Family show in Jharkhand election

Husbands and wives, fathers and sons, and sisters-in-law have been pitted against each other for the upcoming election; political daughters-in-law are contesting about half a dozen seats

The Jharkhand Assembly election has turned into an arena for political battles within families, with candidates pitted against their own flesh and blood. In some constituencies, a son takes on his father; in others, a wife contests against her husband. And all that’s apart from the slew of political in-laws on the ballot.

In Dhanbad’s Tundi Assembly seat, the sitting MLA is Mathura Prasad Mahato of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM). During this election, he must defend his seat not just from the BJP candidate Vikas Kumar Mahato, but also from the challenge offered by his own son Dinesh Mahato who has filed his nomination as an independent candidate.

In 2015, Mr. Dinesh Mahato had contested the Mayor’s post in the Dhanbad Municipal Corporation election. He has now stepped up to contest the Tundi Assembly seat, where the Kurmi caste of the candidates is a major factor.

Father-son contest

The Jharia Assembly constituency will also see a father-son contest. Mohammad Rustam Ansari of the Jharkhand Loktantrik Kranti Morcha (JLKM) has filed his nomination from the seat, while his son Saddam Hussain alias Bunty has also filed his papers as an independent candidate.

The JLKM, led by Jairam Mahato, was formed just ahead of the Assembly election. The new outfit, however, has put seasoned political parties on their guard in Jharkhand after its performed better than expected in the general election earlier this year. Of the eight Lok Sabha seats it contested, the party’s candidates snagged third place in six seats, garnering a total of 8.2 lakh votes.

Also Read | Jharkhand election: Key candidates, including BJP State president Babulal Marandi, file nomination

Spouses and in-laws

Another interesting fight is brewing in Jharia between two women who are cousins-in-law. The sitting MLA, Purnima Niraj Singh of the Congress, is the widow of the late Niraj Singh. Her rival is BJP candidate Ragini Singh, wife of former BJP MLA Sanjeev Singh. Mr. Niraj Singh was murdered in 2017 while serving as a deputy Mayor. His cousin and then-BJP MLA Mr. Sanjeev Singh was charged in the murder and sent to jail. In the 2019 Assembly election, the Congress fielded Ms. Purnima Niraj Singh while the BJP gave its ticket to Ms. Ragini Singh.

In the Gomia assembly constituency, both Chittaranjan Sao and his wife Sunita Devi, who is a Zila Parishad president, have filed their nomination papers to contest as independent candidates.

Slew of daughters-in-law

Though it is quite common to see the sons and daughter of politicians contest the polls, this election has an unusual number of in-laws in the fray as well.

The JMM’s Kalpana Soren and the BJP’s Sita Soren, the two daughters-in-law of JMM founder Shibu Soren, are contesting the election from Gandey and Jamtara Assembly constituencies respectively.

Purnima Das Sahu, the daughter-in-law of the Odisha Governor and former Chief Minister M. Raghubar Das, is contesting from the Jamshedpur East seat which Mr. Das has represented five times. Ms. Sahu will face Congress candidate and former Jamshedpur SP Dr. Ajoy Kumar.

State Minister Satyanand Bhokta’s daughter-in-law Rashmi Prakash is contesting from Chatra on the ticket of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).

Savita Mahato, daughter-in-law of the late Nirmal Mahato who played a leading role in the Jharkhand movement, is contesting from the Ichagarh seat as a JMM candidate, while the Congress candidate from Mahagama is Deepika Pandey, the daughter-in-law of Awadh Bihari Singh, a strong leader from the erstwhile united State of Bihar.

Published - October 30, 2024 08:05 pm IST