Jharkhand Assembly Elections: A Battle Among Family Members
The Jharkhand Assembly elections have taken an intriguing turn as several family members are contesting against each other. This time, the electoral battlefield features husbands and wives, fathers and sons, and even cousins, with multiple family members from the same household running for office in various constituencies. Nearly a dozen political leaders’ sons-in-law have also entered the fray.
In Dhanbad’s Tundi constituency, sitting MLA Madhur Prasad Mahto of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) is competing against BJP’s Vikas Kumar Mahto and his own son, Dinesh Mahto, who is running as an independent candidate. In Jharia, a father-son duo, Mohammad Rustam Ansari of the Jharkhand Loktantrik Kranti Morcha (J.K.L.M.) and his son Saddam Hussain (alias Bunty), are also in the race, with the son running as an independent candidate.
In another unique contest, two women are fighting it out in Jharia. Congress’s sitting MLA Purnima Neeraj Singh is up against BJP’s Ragini Singh, the wife of her cousin, Sanjeev Singh, who was convicted and imprisoned in connection with the 2017 murder of Purnima’s husband, Neeraj Singh. In Gomia, Chittaranjan Savo and his wife Sunita Devi have both filed nominations as independents.
Family members are no strangers to the political scene, but Jharkhand’s elections have seen an exceptional number of sons and sons-in-law contesting against each other. Shibu Soren, the JMM founder, has two sons-in-law, Sita Soren and Kalpana Soren, contesting from Jamtara and Gandei respectively, under different party banners, with Sita representing BJP and Kalpana from JMM.
In other notable cases, former strongman in Bihar, Avadh Bihari Singh’s son-in-law, Deepika Pandey, is contesting from Mahagama, while Minister Satyanand Bhakt’s son-in-law, Rashmi Prakash Chhatr, is running on a ticket from the RJD. The late Nirmal Mahto’s daughter-in-law, Savita Mahto, is running for the JMM from Aikaghad, and former Chief Minister Raghubar Das’s daughter-in-law, Purnima Das Sahu, is contesting from Jamshedpur East.
