New Delhi: Jharkhand Mukti Morcha candidate Kalpana Murmu Soren, wife of former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, has won the Gandey assembly bypoll. She defeated her nearest rival, the BJP’s Dilip Kumar Verma, by 27,149 votes.
This was Soren’s electoral debut. She emerged as a star campaigner for the JMM in the Lok Sabha elections after her husband’s arrest by the Enforcement Directorate 31 January this year in an alleged land scam case.
The Gandey seat fell vacant on 31 December last year — exactly a month before Hemant Soren’s arrest— after the sudden resignation of JMM legislator Sarfaraz Ahmed on 30 December 2023, citing personal reasons. Ahmed was later elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha 14 March.
Kalpana Soren then joined active politics 4 March this year during celebrations to mark the 51st foundation day of the JMM in the Giridih district.
Her first speech, 4 March, the JMM foundation day, was full of rhetoric, tears, and a show of solidarity.
“My in-laws are teary-eyed and I thought I would not cry, but I am standing teary-eyed… However, seeing your love and affection, I am feeling strong. I am seeing the anger… there is fire,” she said, in Hindi.
She filed her nomination as the JMM candidate for the Gandey assembly seat bypoll in the state at the end of April this year.
Before his arrest, Hemant Soren had submitted his resignation to Governor C.P. Radhakrishnan at Raj Bhavan, and JMM leader Champai Soren took over the CM post.
However, Kalpana’s entry into politics and her nomination fed into speculation that JMM had a succession plan for her. As she was not a sitting MLA, she would have had to get elected to the assembly within six months if she became CM.
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