Among the five districts of Jharkhand, North Chota Nagpur district is considered the most suitable route to reach the power corridor. It has 25 parliamentary constituencies in seven constituencies.
Jharkhand Assembly Elections 2024: Key dates and candidates
The district includes Kodma, Ramgarh, Hazaribagh, Chhatra, Giridih, Bokaro and Dhanbad districts. In the 2019 elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won a total of 25 seats in the Jharkhand Assembly, 12 of which belonged to the region. Congress won 5 seats, JMM won 4 seats, RJD, CPI (Marxist-Leninist) and All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) won one seat each, while independent candidates won one seat.
North Chota Nagpur is important because several high-profile figures are in the fray, including Jharkhand’s first chief minister Babulal Marandi (currently the state president of the Bharatiya Janata Party); Kalpana Soren, wife of current chief minister Hemant Soren, is contesting against the BJP. Both are regular seats.
When Jharkhand became a separate state, Mr Marandi was a BJP MP from Dumka. Shabbir Ahmed Qureshi, the CPI MLA from the Ramgarh seat, died, following which Mr Marandi contested and won the by-election, making him the first chief minister of Jharkhand minister.
Giridih district has six assembly wards and is the heart of North Chota Nagpur as it includes the assembly constituencies of Mr Marandi and Ms Soren. Mr Marandi faces two India Bloc candidates – Nizamuddin Ansari of the JMM and Raj Yadav of the Communist Party of India (ML) – who are engaged in a tussle Friendly competition.
Meanwhile, Ms Soren will face BJP candidate Munia Devi in Gandi constituency, which she won in a by-election in May 2024 after former MP Sarfaraz Ahmed He vacated the constituency in January and later won votes for the Federal House of Representatives. She entered politics when her husband was imprisoned in a money laundering case.
In North Chota Nagpur, there are no seats reserved for Scheduled Tribes (STs). Of the 81 assembly seats in the state, nine are reserved for surface castes (SCs), four of which are in this region.
Both the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and Indian groups are vying for as many seats as possible. In the 2009 elections, the BJP performed poorly, winning only three seats. The then Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (JVM) led by Mr Marandi won seven seats before merging with the BJP. Congress came second with 6 seats, JMM won 3 seats and Left, RJD and AJSU won 2 seats each.
During the “Modi wave” of 2014, the BJP rebounded, winning 16 of the 25 seats, while its ally AJSU won 2 seats. The remaining seats are occupied by the JMM, Congress and the Left.
In the 2019 elections, the BJP won 3 of the 4 reserved seats in the SC, including Simaria, Jamua and Chandankiyari. RJD won Chhatra seat.
In the 2014 elections, the BJP won Chhatra and Jamuya seats. Simaria and Chandankiyari seats went to JVM account; both JVM MLAs later joined the BJP. Amar Kumar Bauri, who won from Chandankyari, was appointed as a member of Raghubar Das’ cabinet. Currently, Mr. Bori is the Leader of Opposition in Jharkhand.
The North Chota Nagpur region of Jharkhand is the most prosperous region of the state, largely due to the coal mines of Dhanbad, Chhatra and Ramgarh, and is often referred to as the “coal belt” of Jharkhand. Furthermore, Bokaro Steel Plant contributes to the economy and gives it a unique identity.
Due to the fertile land, the farmers of Hazaribagh are also economically strong. The Naxalites, once dominant in Chhatra and Giridih districts, are now almost wiped out. Codema, a company with only one assembly unit, is famous for its mica mining and was once the world’s leading producer. In Kodma, the race is on between sitting BJP MP Neera Yadav and jailed RJD candidate Subhash Yadav.
Another notable constituency in Giridi is Dumri because of Jairam Mahato, an influential Kudmi leader popularly known as “Tiger Mahato”. As the founder of the Jharkhand Loktantrik Kranti Morcha (JLKM), Mr Mahato’s unexpected performance in the recent Lok Sabha elections surprised Jharkhand’s established political parties.
Mahato fielded candidates in eight constituencies and came third in six constituencies, receiving more than 820,000 votes. In Dumri, he faces JMM candidate Baby Devi, a cabinet minister and widow of Jagarnath Mahato, also known as ‘Tiger’ . She is in direct competition with AJSU candidate Yashoda Devi.
In Chhatra seat, sitting MP and minister Satyanand Bhokta has fielded his daughter-in-law Rashmi Prakash on RJD ticket as Bhokta in Jharkhand He was unable to contest elections after the community shifted from SC category to ST category.
In Dhanbad’s Jhariya, popularly known as Koylanchal, the contest is between two sisters-in-law: Congress sitting MP Purnima Niraj Singh is running against the BJP candidate Ragini Singh competes.
As candidates from both camps are busy campaigning, the National Development Bill makes infiltration and corruption a big issue in Bangladesh, while the India Bloc attacks the BJP for misusing central agencies against opposition parties and talks of a Soren-led government plan. Among them, the cash transfer scheme – Maiya Samman Yojna – created a huge stir, after which the BJP had to include the Gogo-Didi Yojna as part of its resolution.
In this election, the BJP nominated candidates for 20 seats in the district, while its allies AJSU and Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) contested 4 and 1 seats respectively. JMM and Congress fielded candidates in 10 seats each, while the remaining seats were shared between RJD and CPI(ML).
The first phase of elections will be held in Jharkhand on November 13 for 43 seats. Voting will be held in the first phase for seven of the 25 seats in North Chota Nagpur district: Koderma, Barkatha, Barhi, Barkagaon, Hazaribagh, Simaria and Chatra seats. Voting for the remaining 18 seats in the region will be held on November 20.
Published – November 7, 2024 at 04:45 pm (IST)
