Jharkhand Assembly Elections 2024: Former BJP MLAs Louis Marandi and Kunal Sarangi on Monday (October 21) joined the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), weeks ahead of the assembly elections in the state. The development also comes barely two days after three-term BJP legislator Kedar Hazra and AJSU Party's Umakant Rajak joined the JMM.
"We joined the JMM today," Sarangi, the BJP's former spokesperson and ex-Bahragora MLA, told news agency PTI.
In 2014, Marandi, a former BJP legislator, defeated Chief Minister Hemant Soren by a margin of 5,262 votes in Dumka. However, in 2019, Soren won the seat by a margin of 13,188 votes but later vacated it to retain the Barhait constituency. In the subsequent by-election, Soren's brother, Basant Soren, defeated Marandi by over 6,842 votes in Dumka, a party stronghold.
In July, Sarangi resigned from the BJP's primary membership, about a month and a half after stepping down as the Jharkhand unit spokesperson.
He sent his resignation to BJP state president Babulal Marandi, citing issues within the organization and concerns in East Singhbhum district.
Sarangi also expressed frustration with the party leadership's "indifferent approach" despite his efforts to address important issues.
Jharkhand Assembly Elections 2024
The elections will take place in two phases, on November 13 and November 20, with counting scheduled for November 23. About 2.60 crore electors, including 11.84 lakh first-time voters and 1.13 lakh persons with disabilities, third-gender individuals, and senior citizens over 85, are expected to vote, compared to 2.23 crore in the 2019 assembly elections. he BJP, which lost power to the JMM-led alliance in Jharkhand in 2019, is looking to reclaim its position in the tribal-dominated state.
In 2019, the JMM-led alliance won 47 seats, wresting power from the BJP in the state. The JMM had won 30 seats, while the Congress bagged 16, and the RJD one. The BJP had secured 25 seats, JVM-P three, AJSU Party two, and the CPI-ML and NCP one each, besides two Independents emerging victorious.
(With PTI inputs)
