Former Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda loses from Majhgaon

RANCHI: Former Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda today lost from Majhgaon(ST) seat to Jharkhand Mukti Morcha candidate Niral Purty by 11,182 votes.

Koda, who had been representing Jagannathpur constituency since 2000, won the assembly seat again in 2005 and went on to be the chief minister of the tribal state the next year. He was pulled down by JMM after being in power for 23 months.

He had fought on a BJP ticket in 2000 and in 2005 as an Independent from Jagannathpur.

Koda formed Jai Bharat Samanta Party and nominated his wife Gita from the seat in 2009 as he was an MP then and was battling corruption charges, for which he had been in judicial custody for nearly four years before being released on bail. He has been charge sheeted by CBI in coal block allocation scam.

Gita Koda had won the elections then.