The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) on Thursday decided to field Anjani Soren, sister of former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren, from the Mayurbhanj Lok Sabha seat in Odisha. She is the daughter of JMM founder Shibu Soren. Anjani will take on BJP's Naba Charan Majhi and BJD’s Sudam Marndi, who was once spearheading the JMM in Odisha. JMM’s Odisha unit spokesperson Shivaji Moulik said a meeting was held under the leadership of Jharkhand CM Champai Soren and it was decided that Anjani will be given ticket from Mayurbhanj Lok Sabha seat and Bishnu Singh will be the party's candidate from Bangiriposi Assembly segment. “The official announcement will be made soon after discussion with the Congress and other parties who are part of the INDIA bloc,” said Moulik. JMM spokesperson Supriyo Bhattacharya told The Indian Express: “We are fielding Anjani Soren from Mayurbhanj constituency on JMM ticket.” Anjani, who is the president of JMM’s Odisha unit, will be contesting from Mayurbhanj for the second time; she had finished third in the last general elections, polling 11.78 % of the total vote share. BJP’s Bishweswar Tudu won the seat with 42.1% votes, while the BJD finished second. The Congress had not fielded any candidate from Mayurbhanj Lok Sabha seat in 2019. Anjani, who is the wife of late Debananda Marndi, a resident of Ghadadega in Mayurbhanj district, has been actively involved in the expansion of the JMM in Odisha’s northern part. According to her 2019 nomination paper, she has passed intermediate of arts from DGSS Inter College, Bokaro, under Jharkhand Academic Council, Ranchi, in 2009. The JMM had a strong base in Odisha’s Mayurbhanj and Sundargarh districts, which share borders with Jharkhand, in the early 2000s. Sudam Marndi won the seat in 2004 on a JMM ticket, securing over 37% vote share. He contested again from the seat on JMM ticket in 2009 and lost to BJD’s Laxman Tudu. Marndi finished second with 23% vote share. Ahead of the 2014 polls, Marndi joined Naveen Patnaik-led BJD, along with senior JMM leaders in Odisha, hours after the seat-sharing talks with the BJD failed. In 2014 polls, the JMM’s vote share in Mayurbhanj further reduced to 16.4%, with the party finishing third on the seat. BJD’s Rama Chandra Hansdah won from Mayurbhanj in 2014.
