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Journalism of Courage
Fighting on behalf of the INDIA coalition, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha on Friday retained its Dumri bastion in a bypoll, by a margin of over 17,000 votes. While the counting indicated a close fight, the JMM’s Bebi Devi finally pulled ahead, getting over 1 lakh votes against 83,164 votes for NDA candidate Yashoda Devi of the All Jharkhand Students’ Union (AJSU).
Bebi Devi’s husband Jagarnath Mahato was the sitting JMM MLA from the seat, and died earlier this year, necessitating the bypoll. Mahato was the Minister of Education, as well as of Prohibition and Excise in the JMM-led government in the state, which has the Congress and RJD as allies. After his death, Bebi Devi replaced him as the state’s Minister of Prohibition and Excise.
Mahato had been a popular leader, who won by big margins. In the last Assembly elections in 2019, he had defeated Yashoda Devi by over 34,000 votes; and in 2014, won by over 32,000 votes. The AJSU was not a partner of the BJP in 2019.
The JMM was banking on this popularity of Mahato in the area, built over a decade-and-a-half. Mahato was also a key aide of JMM founder Binod Bihari Mahato and participated in the agitation for a separate state of Jharkhand. Since entering the electoral fray in 2005, Mahato had won all the four elections he contested from Dumri, and was referred to by his followers as “Tiger”.
Dumri is dominated by the Mahato caste group, which has played a key role in elections. After the Mahatos, the Vaishyas and the Muslims make up the largest sections of the population in the Assembly segment, followed by tribal communities.
Before the polls, a ruling coalition leader had said: “Tiger dada ke maut par sympathy to milegi Bebi Devi ko (There will be a wave of sympathy for Bebi Devi after the death of “Tiger” Jagarnath Mahato). He was a messiah in his constituency. The OBC community just loves him.”
The NDA had campaigned heavily in this seat, with visits by Union ministers Arjun Munda and Annapurna Devi, and former chief ministers Babulal Marandi and Raghubar Das, in an attempt to wrest the constituency from the JMM.
There were four other candidates in the fray. The AIMIM’s Abdul Mobin Rizvi only polled 3,472 votes, while the remaining three Independents polled 3,223 votes altogether.
The voting on September 5 saw 68.84% voter turnout, which was just slightly lesser than the 2019 Assembly elections.
