BJP heads towards majority in Jharkhand, 3 ex-CMs defeated

RANCHI: All four former chief ministers, including heavyweights like Arjun Munda and Babulal Marandi, were defeated in their home turf, outgoing CM Hemant Soren lost sitting Dumka seat for 5262 votes while he managed victory from Barhait with 24087 votes as counting of votes concluded in Jharkhand. Former CM Madhu Koda lost to JMM nominee Niral Purty, not a big name in Jharkhand politics for 11182 votes.

"Victory and defeat are part of democratic politics," said Arjun Munda, BJP's Kharsawan candidate, who was considered to be in race to become the next chief minister in Jharkhand. JMM nominee Dashrath Gagrai defeated Munda with a margin of around 11,966 votes.

Jharkhand's first CM Babulal Marandi, chief of Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (P), lost from both Giridih and Raj Dhanwar seats. CPI (ML) candidate Rajkumar Yadav defeated Marandi in Raj Dhanwar with 10712 votes while Marandi was pushed to third position in Giridih seat where BJP' Nirbhay Shabadi defeated JMM's little-known Sudivya Kumar by 9933 votes.

Madhu Koda lost his home seat Majhgaon to JMM nominee Niral Purty for 11182 votes.

Outgoing CM Hemant Soren lost Dumka seat to BJP nominee Luis Marandi for 5262, but managed to defeat BJP nominee in Barhait seat.