Next month it will be 24 years of establishment of Jharkhand. Many governments were formed in these 24 years and the average tenure of the governments was two and a half years. During this period, seven Chief Ministers have been appointed, out of which Arjun Munda, Shibu Soren and Hemant Soren have taken oath several times. A very interesting phenomenon is visible in this time’s assembly elections. That is, till now in the history of Jharkhand, all the Chief Ministers, whether from JMM, BJP or independent, have some member of their family contesting elections on BJP ticket. It is not that the relatives are distant. Very close relatives or family members of all the former Chief Ministers and present Chief Ministers are contesting the elections.
Shibu Soren became the first Chief Minister of the state but he could not prove the majority and then Babulal Marandi became the Chief Minister. This time in the assembly elections, Babulal Marandi himself is contesting from Raj Dhanwar seat. After being out of BJP for about 13 years from 2006 to 20019, he returned to BJP and is currently the state president. Shibu Soren is no longer in active politics. His son Hemant Soren is the Chief Minister, who will contest from Barhet and his brother Basant Soren from Dumka. But Sita Soren, daughter-in-law of Shibu Soren and sister-in-law of Hemant Soren, is contesting from Jamtara assembly seat on BJP ticket. BJP had also fielded Sita Soren from Dumka Lok Sabha seat but she lost.
The second Chief Minister of BJP was Arjun Munda. He had lost from Khunti seat in the Lok Sabha elections this year. Before that he had also lost the assembly elections from his traditional Kharsanwa seat. That’s why by changing the seat this time, BJP has made his wife Meera Munda the candidate from Potka reserved seat under Jamshedpur Lok Sabha. Independent Madhu Koda became the Chief Minister in 2006 after toppling Arjun Munda’s government. This time BJP had made his wife Geeta Koda its candidate from her traditional Jagannathpur seat. Geeta Koda had contested the elections from East Singhbhum seat on BJP ticket but could not win.
The third Chief Minister of the BJP was Raghuvar Das, who became the first Chief Minister of Jharkhand to complete a full five-year term. She was the Chief Minister from 2014 to 2019 and is currently the Governor of Odisha. BJP has fielded his daughter-in-law Purnima Das Sahu from his traditional Jamshedpur East seat. Champai Soren became the Chief Minister of the state in February this year after Hemant Soren went to jail. Later he joined BJP and BJP has made him its candidate from Seraikela seat, which is his traditional seat. But along with this, BJP has given ticket to his son Babulal Soren from the adjacent Ghatshila seat. That means both father and son are contesting the elections together on BJP ticket. So, two former Chief Ministers themselves are contesting the elections and the family members of the rest are contesting on BJP tickets.