RANCHI: BJP and JMM have announced their candidates for Ghatshila by-poll. Babulal Soren, son of former Chief Minister Champai Soren, will represent BJP again; Somersh Soren, son of the late MLA Ramdas Soren, will contest on JMM ticket for the first time.
Ghatshila seat fell vacant after the death of JMM leader Ramdas Soren. The by-election has been scheduled for November 11, while the counting of votes will take place on November 14.
Babulal Soren had earlier contested the 2024 Assembly elections from Ghatsila on BJP ticket, but was defeated by the then Education Minister and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader, late Ramdas Soren.
After being named as the BJP’s official candidate, Babulal Soren expressed his gratitude towards the party’s central and state leadership. He said he was thankful to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP National President JP Nadda, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, State President Babulal Marandi, Working President Aditya Sahu, and all other party members for reposing faith in him and giving him another opportunity to represent the people of Ghatshila.
Somesh had purchased his nomination from Ghatsila Sub-division office on October 13, even before his name was announced by the JMM.
The decision to field Somesh was taken at a meeting of the party’s central committee, chaired by JMM president and former Chief Minister Hemant Soren.
The JMM's nomination meeting will be held on October 17 at the Dahigoda Circus Ground in Ghatsila. Chief Minister Hemant Soren is likely to be present while Somesh files his nomination.
Somesh Soren said that he will win the elections with double margin this time.
Political observers believe that this by-election will once again see a direct contest between the BJP and the JMM. In the 2024 Assembly election, JMM’s Ramdas Soren had won the seat by securing 98,356 votes, while Babulal Soren of the BJP had received 75,910 votes.
According to the Election Commission, the official notification for the Ghatshila by-poll was issued on October 13. The last date for filing nominations is October 21, and candidates will be able to withdraw their nominations until October 24. Polling will take place on November 11, and the results will be declared on November 14.
The Ghatsila Assembly constituency is reserved for Scheduled Tribes (ST) and has a total of 2,55,823 registered voters. Among them, 1,24,899 are men, 1,30,921 are women, and three are transgender voters.