Union Minister and three-time Chief Minister Arjun Munda is in the fray in the first phase of polling in Jharkhand, which is slated for May 13, with four Lok Sabha seats at stake: Palamu, which is reserved for Scheduled Castes; and Singhbhum, Lohardaga, and Khunti, which are reserved for Scheduled Tribes.
Top leaders of both the National Democratic Alliance and the Opposition Indian National Developmental, Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, have campaigned in these four constituencies, which are spread across 10 districts and 23 Assembly segments. Most of the contests are direct fights between the BJP’s nominees and the unity candidates put up by the parties of the INDIA bloc.
In Singhbhum, Congress MP-turned-BJP candidate Geeta Koda is up against the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha’s Joba Manjhi. In Khunti, Mr. Arjun Munda is being challenged again by Kalicharan Munda of the Congress, who lost by a tiny margin last time. In Palamu, the BJP’s V.D. Ram is pitted against political debutant Mamta Bhuiya of the Rashtriya Janata Dal. In Lohardaga, the BJP’s Samir Oraon will take on Sukhdev Bhagat of the Congress, though a JMM rebel is hoping to play spoiler as well.
JMM rebel plays spoiler
Lohardaga is likely to see a triangular fight as Bishunpur MLA Chamra Linda, who won the Assembly seat on a JMM ticket, has now jumped into the parliamentary fray as an independent candidate. In 2004, 2009 and 2014, Mr. Linda had unsuccessfully contested Lok Sabha elections as an independent candidate, though he secured over one lakh votes on his second and third tries.
In 2019, the BJP had fielded Sudharshan Bhagat from Lohardaga, but his margin of victory against the Congress’ Sukhdev Bhagat was just 10,363 votes, prompting the party to drop its sitting MP and name Mr. Oraon as its candidate instead.
Of the five Assembly segments in Lohardaga — Mandar, Sisai, Bishunpur, Gumla, and Lohardaga — all are currently represented by INDIA MLAs, with three from the JMM and two from the Congress.
Congress MP turns BJP candidate
Many interior Maoist-affected areas across the Singhbhum constituency will witness polling for the first time ever, or after a gap of many decades, as polling teams and materials will be air-dropped via helicopter to enable voters living in Saranda, Asia’s densest sal forest, to exercise their franchise.
Singhbhum has long been a stronghold of the Koda family. Former Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda had won the general election here in 2009 and his wife, Ms. Koda, won the seat as a Congress candidate in 2019, despite the strong wave in favour of Mr. Modi. However, months before the 2024 Lok Sabha election, Ms. Koda quit the Congress and joined the BJP.
The constituency is spread across six Assembly segments: Saraikela, Chaibasa, Jagannathpur, Manoharpur, Chakradharpur, and Majhgaon. More than 70% of the population belongs to the Ho tribe. So far, the Congress has won the Singhbhum Lok Sabha seat five times while the BJP has won it thrice.
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Union Minister in close fight
Union Tribal Affairs Minister Mr. Arjun Munda is seeking a second term as Khunti MP after a close shave in 2019, when he defeated Mr. Kalicharan Munda by just 1,445 votes. He faces the same opponent this time as well.
The Khunti Lok Sabha seat is spread across six Assembly segments: Kharsawar, Tamar, Torpa, Khunti, Simdega, and Kolebira. It is home to tribal icon Birsa Munda’s native Ulihat village, where Mr. Modi paid tribute last November and also launched the PM Janman scheme and the Union government’s Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra. The BJP has won this seat the most times, with former Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha Kariya Munda having won seven times.
Newbie vs former policeman
Palamu will also be a tough fight for the INDIA bloc, as the BJP has held the seat since 2014. Jharkhand’s former Director General of Police (DGP) Mr. Ram is more than confident that he can win the seat for the third time after the PM’s public meeting in Palamu in his support on May 4. He has always maintained a low profile, and avoided controversy.
Though his opponent Ms. Bhuiya has no prior political experience, the caste she belongs to has a population of about 4.5 lakh in Palamu, which is a constituency reserved for SC candidates.
Of the six Assembly segments here – Daltonganj, Bishrampur, Chhatrapur, Husainabad, Garhwa, and Bhawanathpur — four are held by the BJP, while Hussainabad is represented by the Nationalist Congress Party led by NDA ally Ajit Pawar. Only Garhwa is held by the JMM.
Of the 14 Lok Sabha seats from Jharkhand, the BJP won 11 in 2019 while its NDA ally, the All Jharkhand Students Union snagged one seat; the remaining two seats, Chaibasa and Rajmahal, went to the Congress and the JMM respectively.
