Hemant Soren's Party Wins Jharkhand Key Poll In Big Win For INDIA Bloc

INDIA bloc candidate Jharkhand Mukti Morcha's (JMM) Bebi Devi won the Dumri bypoll in Jharkhand's Giridih on Friday by defeating the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) nominee and AJSU party leader, Yashoda Devi, by 17,153 votes, an election official said.

The JMM candidate got around 1,00,317 votes, while the NDA candidate bagged 83,164 votes after 24 rounds of counting, the official said.

Giridih deputy commissioner and district election officer Naman Priyesh Lakra told news agency PTI, "JMM's Bebi Devi won the election with a margin of 17,153 votes."

According to political experts, AIMIM's votes shifted to the JMM which helped her win.

Bebi Devi is the wife of former Jharkhand Minister Jagarnath Mahto, whose death in April necessitated the by-election.

She termed her victory a 'true tribute' to Mr Mahto who had represented the seat since 2004 till his death.

"As promised, I will now complete the incomplete work of Jagarnath Mahto," she said.

The Hemant Soren government has already given Bebi Devi a cabinet berth. She was sworn in as minister on July 3.

Extending his gratitude to the people of Dumri, Chief Minister Hemant Soren wrote on X, "This tremendous victory of Dumri is the beginning of 2024. The people have decided that only democracy will work in Jharkhand, not the money system. Only and only the government of Jharkhandis will run here. The deceit and arrogance of BJP and AJSU are now sure to be wiped out from Jharkhand."

He said, "The Jharkhand government will work to fulfill the dreams and unfinished tasks of Jagarnath da."

Meanwhile, Jharkhand BJP president and former Chief Minister Babulal Marandi alleged, "It is clear from the election results that it is the defeat of the Hemant Soren government and victory of appeasement."

"The entire machinery of the Hemant government was engaged in threatening the voters. Party workers were kidnapped. Houses were raided. Money power was used extensively, yet the public strongly attacked the failures of the state government," he said.

The polling for the by-election was held on September 5. Of the total 2.98 lakh eligible voters, 64.84 per cent had cast their votes.

Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM had fielded Md Abdul Mobin Rizvi as its candidate. Mr Owaisi also campaigned for its candidate in Dumri, hoping to make inroads in the state.

Mr Rizvi, however, was able to manage only 3,472 votes, which was even lower than the NOTA votes of 3,650. He secured the fourth position with 24,132 votes in the 2019 assembly elections.

"The way a tampered video showing pro-Pakistan slogans raised during a rally was made viral caused loss to me in the election," he said.

The AIMIM candidate is facing an FIR for alleged 'pro-Pakistan' slogan raised during party chief Asaduddin Owaisi's public rally in Giridih on August 30.

As per the Election Commission, JMM's vote share was 51.76 per cent, while that of the AJSU party was 42.91 per cent.

This was the sixth bypoll since the Hemant Soren-led coalition government came to power in December 2019.

Earlier, five assembly constituencies - Dumka, Bermo, Madhupur, Mandar, and Ramgarh - went to by-elections.

The JMM retained the Dumka and Madhupur seats, while the Congress won the Bermo and Mandar seats. Ramgarh assembly seat went to the AJSU Party.

With the victory of Bebi Devi, JMM's MLA strength in assembly again rose to 30 and its coalition to 48 including 17 MLAs of Congress and one of RJD in the 81-member Jharkhand House.

The BJP has 26 members and AJSU Party three. The NCP and CPI (ML) have one lawmaker each, apart from two Independents.

Soon after the results were announced, Congress and JMM supporters danced to the beats of drums, burst firecrackers, and distributed sweets among themselves in Dumri as well as in Ranchi.

The INDIA bloc leaders and workers congregated at Ranchi's Albert Ekka Chowk and celebrated the win.

Earlier, Congress workers celebrated the victory at the party office on Shradhanand Road, while JMM celebrated it at Harmu Chowk.

Jharkhand Congress president Rajesh Thakur said the victory has decided the 'condition' and 'direction' of the state.

"People of Dumri have rejected the NDA alliance and accepted the development works being carried out by the coalition government in Jharkhand," he said.

Parliamentary affairs minister and senior Congress leader Alamgir Alam said, "The victory is the trailer of 2024 elections. INDIA bloc has started its victory journey from Dumri and it would be repeated in upcoming Lok Sabha and assembly polls in 2024."

Jharkhand minister and JMM legislator Hafizul Hasan termed it a victory of 'love' over hate.

Meanwhile, AJSU Party said they would analyse the defeat. Party spokesperson Dev Saran Bhagat said, "There were around 2.98 lakh voters but around one lakh voters did not exercise their franchise. It was also a reason that we could not get the targeted votes."

He said the government used its administrative, money and muscle power to win the election.

"Despite several challenges, our candidate got over 83,000 votes in the election," he said.

"Voters are supreme in democracy and we accept their verdict. The BJP along with AJSU Party will jointly prepare for the 2024 elections and wipe out the ruling coalition government in Jharkhand, "former Jharkhand BJP president Deepak Prakash said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)