|
| Internal rumblings in UPA help BJP bounce back in Jharkhand |
| Press Trust of India / Ranchi May 20, 2009, 11:34 IST |
|
The UPA frittered away its 2004 alliance strength letting the BJP bounce back to capture eight of the 14 seats in Jharkhand in the Lok Sabha elections.
The Congress-JMM-RJD-CPI combine had swept the 2004 polls bagging 13 seats among them, but failed this time as the RJD and CPI fought separately, while internal rumblings and JMM president Shibu Soren's indifferent health proved detrimental to the Congress-JMM tie-up.
Union minister and Congress leader Subodh Kant Sahay (Ranchi) was the lone winner for the Congress, while Soren (Dumka) and Kameswarh Baitha (Palamau) emerged winners for the JMM.
The Congress lost five and the JMM two seats.
Though Sahay retained the seat, his victory margin dwindled from 15,421 votes in 2004 to a little over 13,000 this time.
Similarly, Soren's winning margin of 18,812 votes was poor compared to 1,15,015 votes last time.
The JMM, however, gained the Palamau seat where it allotted ticket to jailed Kameswar Baitha who defeated sitting MP Ghuran Ram of the RJD.
The BJP, which had no member in the 14th Lok Sabha from the state as it had lost its lone seat it won in 2004, benefitted from the UPA's disintegration, contrary to its national showing.
Five of the eight winning BJP candidates made their maiden entry to the Lok Sabha.
The five were Arjun Munda (Jamshedpur), Sudarshan Bhagat (Lohardaga), P N Singh (Dhanbad), Nishikant Dubey (Godda) and Debi Dhan Besra (Raj Mahal).
Former BJP MPs Yashwant Sinha (Hazaribagh), Ravindra Kumar Pandey and Karia Munda (Khunti) retained their seats.
Most of the BJP candidates benefitted from multiple UPA candidates contesting in most of the constituencies.
Soren's son, Durga's revolt against the party's decision not to contest the Godda Lok Sabha seat where sitting Congress MP Furkan Ansari was in the fray, resulted in the BJP being handed it on a platter.
Former union finance minister Yashwant Sinha's narrow win of over 31,000 votes win over Congress candidate Sourav Narayan Singh in Hazaribagh reflected the poor seat-sharing understanding between the JMM and the Congress.
Sinha, who in 2004 bit the dust when CPI candidate B P Mehta backed by the combined UPA, thrashed him by a massive 1,05,328 votes.
While Mehta polled 53,785 votes, the Congress candidate got 1,79,646 and JMM's Shivlal Mahato 53,902 against Sinha's 2,19,810 votes this time.
The BJP secured easy wins in Jamshedpur, Dhanbad and Khunti Lok Sabha constituencies. Former chief minister and BJP leader Arjun Munda wrested the Jamshedpur seat from the JMM defeating sitting MP Suman Mahato by over one lakh, getting 42.3 per cent votes.
An independent and former chief minister Madhu Koda made it to the lower house of parliament for the first time, defeating BJP's Barkuwar Gagrai by 85,000 votes from Singhbhum constituency.
A six-time winner, Bagun Sumbrai of the Congress, finished third. After failing twice earlier, former assembly speaker and independent Inder Singh Namdhari won the Chatra Lok Sabha seat by a narrow margin of 16,178 votes over Congress' Dhiraj Kumar Sahu.
Dhirendra Agarwal, who had won the 2004 Chatra Lok Sabha seat, this time lost his deposit. Former chief minsiter Babulal Marandi won the Koderma seat, the third time in a row, apart from his two previous wins from Dumka in 1990s.
Marandi, who had snapped ties with the BJP and floated his own Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) in 2007, was the lone winner of his party.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Read Business news in |  |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Advertisements |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Content Guide
