Kalpana Soren Rises in Jharkhand Against Saffron Gust
JMM leader Kalpana Soren campaigns in Gandey Assembly seat. Image credit X.com @JMMKalpanaSoren
Kalpana Soren Emerges Key Campaigner of JMM with 400 Meetings
By Amit Kumar
Ranchi, November 19: The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader Kalpana Soren wrapped up campaigns for the Assembly elections after addressing 98 public meetings. She holds the record of addressing the maximum public meetings in Jharkhand Assembly elections.
Since the arrest of her husband and the incumbent Chief Minister Hemant Soren, Kalpana Soren has addressed almost 400 public meetings. After the arrest of her husband by the Enforcement Directorate, Kalpana Soren plunged in active politics.
Kalpana Soren won from the Gandey Assembly byelection while her husband was in the Ranchi Central Jail. The JMM MLA Sarfaraz Ahmed vacated the Gandey Assembly seat to pave way for the entry of Kalpana Soren in active politics.
“Kalpana Soren emerged as a formidable campaigner in the Jharkhand Assembly elections. She has been able to campaign spiritedly across the state,” said Prafulla Singh, a Daltonganj-based political observer.
Hemant Soren addressed 91 public meetings during the campaign for the Jharkhand Assembly elections. Husband and wife combination of the JMM together held 189 public meetings in Jharkhand.
They left the top campaigners of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) far behind in holding the public meetings. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, architect of the BJP’s poll plank around illegal Bangladeshi immigrants, addressed the third highest number of public meetings in Jharkhand.
“Sarma held 54 public meetings. The BJP poll in-charge for Jharkhand and Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan addressed 48 public meetings,” added Singh.
Kalpana Soren hogged the limelight as she led the ‘Maiyaa Samman Yatra’ of the JMM ahead of the announcement of the poll dates by the Election Commission. The JMM has pitched the monthly cash transfer of ₹2500 to women in Jharkhand as the principal poll pivot.
Hemant Soren also raised the issue of the BJP-led state governments transferring far less monthly amount to women. Hemant Soren demanded a Centrally sponsored scheme for uniform amount for women each month throughout the country.
Ranchi-based political observers stressed that Kalpana Soren filled the void of an orator in the party. “Hemant Soren is not known for being an orator. But Kalpana Soren grabbed the opportunities in the elections by emerging as an orator,” said a senior political functionary from Ranchi.
While Hemant Soren was in the Ranchi Central jail, the political grapevine was buzzing with speculations that Kalpana Soren could be the political successor to her husband. But Champai Soren became the chief minister while Hemant Soren was lodged in the jail.
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