Hemant Soren’s shine further increased on the political score board with ‘India”s first victory in Jharkhand.

Ranchi: India has won the first battle of NDA vs India in Jharkhand and with this the name of CM Hemant Soren has further increased on the political score board of the state. With the victory of Baby Devi of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, who contested from India in the by-election held on the Dumri assembly seat of the state, he has got a new lease of life.
Soren, who was repeatedly facing difficulties due to opposition attacks, ongoing court cases, confrontation with the central government on many issues and ED action, is now full of new enthusiasm. Although he is apprehensive that the way the siege of ED and CBI is increasing around him, he may face the possibility of going to jail, but before that he wants to make his name so high on the political front that The opposition parties should not get any benefit from this.
At the time when the results of Dumri assembly by-election came out, Soren was addressing a public meeting in Guva, Chaibasa. He said, “Ever since our government was formed, conspiracies are being hatched against us. An attempt is being made to send me to jail by misusing constitutional institutions. But by the time they send me to jail, I will strengthen Jharkhand.”
Soren knows that as long as the public respects a politician, it does not matter whether he is in or out of jail. He has actually inherited this political lesson from his father Shibu Soren, who went to jail several times on charges ranging from corruption to murder, but this did not affect the political health of him and his party JMM. In fact, after every jail visit, Shibu Soren’s heroism increased further. Whenever BJP leaders attack him by saying that Hemant Soren should be ready to go to jail, then in response he thumps his chest in public meetings and says – Has any Jharkhandi ever been afraid of going to jail?
It should be noted that these days Soren is once again on the radar of ED. Last year, ED had interrogated him for about ten hours in the mining scam. In its charge sheet, ED has described him as a patron of those accused of money laundering through illegal mining. Now ED wants to interrogate him in connection with the ongoing action in the land scam of the state. ED has sent summons to Hemant Soren thrice since August, but instead of appearing before ED, Soren has moved the Supreme Court against him, terming his action motivated by political bias. The ED had sent him a summon to appear on September 9, but he rejected it and went to Delhi in a chartered plane to attend the banquet hosted by the President on the occasion of the G-20 conference.
Hemant Soren’s supporters raise a slogan for him – If Hemant hai to himmat hai! Hardly anyone would hesitate in saying that India’s victory in the direct fight between India and NDA on the Dumri assembly by-election seat has further increased “Hemant’s courage”.
This seat of Dumri was vacant due to the death of Jagarnath Mahato, who was a minister in Hemant Soren’s government. Even before the by-election was announced, Hemant Soren, in a big move, included Baby Devi, wife of late Jagarnath Mahato, in his cabinet without becoming an MLA and declared her the party candidate from Dumri seat. Even before the by-election was announced, he started fielding heavily on Dumri seat. He not only announced many welfare and development schemes for that area, but also laid the foundation stone and inaugurated them. Making Baby Devi take oath as minister before the elections was also a part of his political strategy. Even during the election campaign, Hemant Soren held about a dozen meetings and road shows in the area.
On the other hand, NDA announced its candidate after the by-election was announced. Yashoda Devi of AJSU Party stood second on this seat in the 2019 assembly elections. At that time BJP had also fielded its candidate and he was in third place. This time AJSU Party and BJP came under the umbrella of NDA alliance. Yashoda Devi of AJSU was declared the NDA candidate. In 2019, the combined number of votes of both AJSU Party and BJP candidates was around 72 thousand, while JMM’s Jagarnath Mahato, who won the election, got around 71 thousand votes. NDA was assuming that this time the result of AJSU-BJP alliance would be that BJP’s votes would be transferred in favor of AJSU candidate and on this basis his victory would be ensured.
Hemant Soren foiled this strategy of NDA. In fact, he systematically wooed the minority i.e. Muslim voters to ensure the victory of his party’s candidate Baby Devi. In 2019, the candidate of Asaduddin Owaisi’s party had secured more than 24 thousand votes. This time also Owaisi fielded his candidate, but due to the careful strategy of Hemant Soren, 90 percent votes of Muslims were transferred in favor of his candidate. Owaisi’s candidate got only 3472 votes this time, which is about 20 thousand less than the votes received in 2019.
However, after this victory, Hemant Soren’s political attitude has become more aggressive. The truth is that after winning the elections in 2019 and becoming the Chief Minister, despite all the troubles, he continues to score over his opponents.