Jharkhand: Who Is BJP's Gamaliel Hembram Fielded Against Hemant Soren?

In its second list for the Jharkhand assembly polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) named Gamaliel Hembram to take on Chief Minister and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) chief Hemant Soren for the Barhait seat.

Historically, Barhait has been a stronghold of JMM. In the 2019 assembly elections, Soren defeated the nearest rival, BJP's Simon Malto by 25,740 votes, as per PTI.

Who is BJP candidate Gamaliel Hembram?

Gamaliel Hembram is a former teacher, having left his job to join politics five years ago. In the 2019 elections, he had contested against Hemant Soren as a candidate of the All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU), securing a measly 2,573 votes. Soren, on the other hand, secured 73,725 votes with BJP's Simon Malto coming second.

Fortress Barhait

The Barhait seat has been a stronghold for the JMM. The party has consistently won the seat in every election since 1990. JMM's Hemlal Murmu won from Barhait in 1990, 1995, 2000, and 2009. In 2005, when Murmu transitioned to the parliament, JMM's Thomas Soren won the seat. Hemant Soren then won from Barhait in 2014 and 2019. The constituency's population consists of 71 per cent Santhal and other tribal communities, with 10 per cent Muslim voters.

This time, the BJP will be contesting 68 of the 81 seats in Jharkhand. The remaining seats will be contested by its allies. Assembly elections in the state will be held in two phases on November 13 and 20, with the counting set to take place on November 23.

The JMM-led alliance had won 47 out of the 81 seats in Jharkhand. JMM secured 30, while ally Congress won 16. The BJP won 25 seats, JVM-P won three, AJSU Party won two, CPI-ML and NCP secured a seat each, and two seats were won by independent candidates.

Also Read: Champai Soren, Sita Soren Among Key Candidates in BJP’s Jharkhand List