The Ghatshila by-election has turned into a contest between JMM’s all-woman campaign team led by late minister Ramdas Soren’s wife, Surajmoni Soren, and the BJP’s lineup of Union ministers and chief ministers.
The BJP is fielding star campaigners including Mithun Chakraborty, Suvendu Adhikari, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, and Odisha CM Mohan Charan Majhi, while JMM banks on women voters who outnumber men in the constituency.
Campaigning for the Ghatshila by-election has turned into a battle, with the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) fielding an all-woman campaign team led by Surajmoni Soren — wife of the late Jharkhand minister Ramdas Soren — against the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) line up.
JMM’s campaign features several prominent women leaders, including Lok Sabha MP Joba Majhi, Rajya Sabha MP Mahua Majhi, Ichagarh MLA Sabita Mahato, East Singhbhum Councillor Bari Murmu, former Jamshedpur MP Suman Mahato (wife of slain JMM MP Sunil Mahato), and Odisha JMM Mahila Morcha president Anjali Soren, sister of Chief Minister Hemant Soren.
Ramdas Soren passed away on August 15, necessitating the November 11 Ghatshila bypoll.
The campaign’s central figure, 58-year-old Surajmoni Soren, has become the emotional face of the bypoll, appealing to voters’ sentiment following her husband’s death.
"I do not understand politics... this is new for me. I would only like to say that my husband (Ramdas Soren) did not care for his health and sacrificed his life serving you. Now I am offering my son (Somesh Chandra Soren) for service to fulfil his father's unfinished dreams. Our door was open for you earlier and would continue to remain open," she said in Santali and Bengali at a rally in Baguria.
Local JMM leader Jagdish Bhagat said Surajmoni’s participation has energised the campaign.
"Surajmoni 'boudi' had earlier never come to the forefront of politics. However, this time she has agreed to lead from the front and campaign for her son as a tribute to Ramdas ji. Her simple message is attracting masses, especially women," he said.
According to Election Commission data, women outnumber men by nearly five per cent in Ghatshila, with 1,31,180 women voters against 1,25,078 men out of a total electorate of 2,56,252. JMM leaders believe this demographic edge could help consolidate their vote base in Santal and minority-dominated areas.
The BJP, on the other hand, is countering with a show of strength, bringing in high-profile campaigners from across states. Actor Mithun Chakraborty, West Bengal Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, and actress-turned-MP Locket Chatterjee are among those expected to campaign for the party.
BJP leaders Babulal Marandi, Champai Soren, and Rajya Sabha MP Aditya Sahu are coordinating the campaign, focusing on booth-level mobilisation.
"At the moment, we are galvanising booth-level workers of our party and after Chhath festivities, there will be a series of rallies and roadshows by political heavyweights from the first week of November, highlighting the failure of the state government to deliver on all fronts," Kumar said.
The Ghatshila bypoll has thus shaped up as a high-stakes emotional and political face-off between JMM’s Somesh Chandra Soren, backed by his mother’s sentimental appeal, and BJP’s Babulal Soren, armed with a star-studded campaign.
(with PTI inputs)
