Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, JMM's Hemant Soren and other leaders in a file photo
The alliance of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) bagged 47 seats among themselves to throw the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) out of power from Jharkhand, as the eastern state became the latest one to vote a non-BJP government to power after Maharashtra.
The BJP, which has been reduced to 25 seats in 81-member assembly, blamed its poll drubbing to ‘internal strife’ and local issues. BJP spokesperson GVL Narsimha Rao also said that party’s inability to form an alliance against a united opposition costed the party.
According to some analyses, a coalition with All Jharkhand Students’ Union (AJSU), like in 2014, could have helped BJP edged past the winner on at least ten seats.
Accepting the verdict, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah congratulated the victors and Hemant Soren, most likely to be the next chief minister of the state.
"We express our gratitude towards them for giving us the opportunity to serve them for 5 years. BJP is committed towards continuous development in the state," Amit Shah tweeted.
A jubilant Congress, meanwhile, has managed to be in government in seven states, in what is a reversal of the party’s fortunes. Congress leader and in-charge for Jharkhand affairs, RPN Singh said the Congress and the alliance leaders raised the local issues of unemployment, farm distress, economic distress and increased debts and these issues touched the people of Jharkhand, who came out in favour of the alliance.
"We raised the issues of Jharkhand which are also the issues of the people of India. Unemployment, farm distress, economic crisis and rising debts, starvation deaths are issues that touched the people of Jharkhand. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah tried to divert and distract from the real issues but that failed to cut ice with the common people," Singh told PTI.
The return of Hemant Soren
Soren's first stint as chief minister of the tribal state had lasted for just about 14 months since July 15 2013. But this time, he with support from his allies have stopped the seemingly invincible BJP.
Hemant Soren had been the face of the opposition alliance in the state.
He was born to Shibu Soren, known as 'Guruji' to his innumerable followers, and his wife Roopi on August 10, 1975 at Nemra village in Ramgarh district of Jharkhand.
The senior Soren, known as 'Guruji' to his followers and had served as chief minister thrice, had been grooming his elder son Durga Soren but fate had deemed otherwise.
Durga Soren died of suspected kidney failure and Shibu Soren was convicted in the Chirrudih massacre case. The situation turned the focus on Hemant Soren who was then entrusted with the responsibility of running JMM.
It was only after Guruji quit the Manmohan Singh cabinet owing to his court conviction, Hemant Soren emerged as heir apparent of the 'Soren clan' and won the Dumka Assembly seat in 2009.
He went on to become a Rajya Sabha Member in 2009-2010, before becoming Jharkhand's youngest chief minister in 2013 with the support of the Congress and the RJD.
His rule was, however, short-lived as BJP seized power in 2014 in the politically unstable state and Raghubar Das took over.
In 2014, Hemant Soren won a seat in the Jharkhand assembly and became the leader of the opposition.
During his political ascendency he was able to sideline JMM's senior leaders like Stephen Marandi, Simon Marandi and Hemlal Murmu, prompting them to quit the party.
Hemant Soren, who has two sons from his marriage with Kalpana, came under severe criticism from the BJP which accused him of "pariwarvad" for giving a JMM ticket to his sister, Anjali, from Odisha's Mayurbhanj seat in the Lok Sabha polls earlier this year.
The counting of votes for 81 Jharkhand Assembly seats, which went to polls in five phases from November 30 to December 20, began at 8 a.m. on Monday.
(with PTI inputs)
