With the opposition coalition of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, Congress and the RJD obtaining majority in the 81-member assembly, JMM chief Hemant Soren is all set to return as the chief minister of the state. The JMM has won 26 seats and is leading in another four seats to become the single largest party—a status which had been with the BJP for the last 19 years of the state's history.
Meanwhile, outgoing Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das took responsibility for the electoral verdict, saying it was his defeat and not of the BJP. The saffron party had won 37 seats in the 2014 assembly polls.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Soren for the victory and extended his best wishes to the alliance while BJP president Amit Shah said his party respects the mandate of voters and also expressed his gratitude to the people of Jharkhand for giving the BJP a chance to govern the state for five years.
Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi congratulated the party, its coalition partners and workers on the decisive victory of the alliance in Jharkhand, while party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said the people want to hear from the government on employment, bread, water, forest, land, farming and trade, but the BJP tried its best to "divide the people to hide its failed politics"
Soren, who had been the face of the opposition alliance, won by a margin of 13,188 votes from the Dumka seat and from the Barhait assembly constituency by a margin of 25,740 votes.
Born in 1975, Soren took the political centre stage after his father and three-time chief minister Shibu Soren was convicted in the Chirrudih massacre case. Hemant Soren emerged as heir apparent of the 'Soren clan' after Shibu Soren quit the Manmohan Singh cabinet following his conviction. He won the Dumka Assembly seat in 2009.
He went on to become a Rajya Sabha Member in 2009- 2010, before becoming Jharkhand's youngest chief minister of the tribal state in 2013 with the support of the Congress and the RJD.
However, his first stint as chief minister had lasted for just about 14 months since July 15 2013. The BJP seized power in 2014 in the politically unstable state and Raghubar Das took over as the chief minister.
Cornered in the last five years with the saffron party accusing him and his family of violating the Chhotanagpur Tenancy Act and Santhal Pargana Tenancy Act, Hemant Soren took time but patiently overcame the storm and formed the pre-poll alliance with old friends - the Congress and the RJD.
After his party's spectacular performance, Soren said a new chapter begins which will prove to be a milestone.He had promised to protect the land, culture and tradition of tribals, but whether his government will bring the Sarna code is to be seen.
