RANCHI: JMM chief Shibu Soren and State BJP Chief Deepak Prakash were elected to the two Rajya Sabha seats from Jharkhand on Friday. Congress nominee Shahjada Anwar, however, could not make it to the Upper House as he could manage support of only 18 MLAs.
Soren got the support of 30 MLAs while Deepak Prakash was supported by 31 MLAs. “I would like to thank central leadership of BJP, all party MLAs and independent MLAs Saryu Roy and Amit Yadav who supported me in winning the seat. I got the support of maximum number of MLAs, which indicates that NDA is intact in Jharkhand,” said Prakash.
Support of at least 27 legislators was required to win a seat in 79 members Jharkhand Assembly after Chief Minister Hemant Soren resigned from Dumka constituency and Bermo MLA Rajendra Kumar Singh died after a prolonged illness. JMM, already having 29 MLAs, its candidate Shibu Soren was all set to get nominated as it required only 27 MLAs to win a seat for RS in Jharkhand.
This is the third term for Shibu in the Upper House, while Deepak Prakash was elected for the first time. Soren was earlier elected to the House in 1998 and 2002. BJP, currently having 26 MLAs, got the support of AJSU and the two independent MLAs - Saryu Roy and Amit Yadav to reach the magic number.
Shibu Soren, the 75-year grand old man, also known as ‘Guruji,’ has been representing Dumka Lok Sabha for the last three decades except for three general elections. Due to his role in the formation of Jharkhand state, Tribal people consider him a hero. Despite health issues, Soren was nominated by JMM as its nominee for RS Polls after he lost Dumka seat in 2019-Lok Sabha polls.
Deepak Prakash on the other hand, was initially connected with Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and later joined BJP. He is said to be very close to BJP legislative party leader Babulal Marandi. When Marandi formed JVM (P) in 2006, Prakash was one of the prominent leaders who joined him, but again came back to BJP fold after a few years. Prakash recently had replaced Laxman Gilua as State BJP President, who resigned after the party lost power in 2019 Assembly polls.