Dumka: Babulal throws down the gauntlet against Guruji

Ranchi, March 14

The stage is set for a heavyweight fight in the Dumka Lok Sabha constituency, with former chief minister Shibu Soren and Babulal Marandi being nominated by their respective parties for the seat.

The JVM(P) on Thursday nominated its leader Marandi; Soren had been declared as the JMM candidate on March 11. They will return to the site of their respective electoral debuts to contest against each other for the fourth time, with the scoreboard currently reading 2-1 in favour of the JMM man.

Both have a history with the Scheduled Tribe-reserved constituency - Soren is the outgoing MP, having contested 10 times, winning seven duels. Marandi, ougoing MP from Koderma, contested from Dumka four times, winning twice.

In fact, Marandi debuted his electoral life against Soren in 1991, losing spectacularly by 1.3 lakh votes. In 1996, he bettered it but still lost by 6000. It was third time lucky for Marandi in 1998, when he won against Soren, sending the latter to the Rajya Sabha. In 1999, Soren fielded his wife Roopi from Dumka as he did not want to relinquish his RS seat. Roopi lost to Marandi, dealing a major personal blow to the Sorens.

Soren began his electoral career in 1977 in Dumka with a loss. He won in 1980 but lost again in '84. He won in '89, '91 and '96 before his '98 loss to Marandi. He returned from the Rajya Sabha to win in 2002 and has completed a hat trick, winning in '04 and '09.

Both of them are not from Dumka - Soren hails from Ramgarh while Marandi is from Giridin. The reason they reached Dumka - sub-capital of Jharkhand and nerve center of the Santhal Pargana, home of the Santhals - is because their work took them there. Both have since moved away from that original cause - Soren fought against the money lenders of the region, while the RSS sent Marandi there.

That Soren would have a tough fight on his hands this time was a foregone conclusion - the weakening cadre strength of the JMM in its stronghold and the poor performance of the Hemant Soren government being two reasons. Then, Soren's younger brother Lalu Soren went over to the TMC.

Marandi had earlier indicated that he would prefer not to contest and said that he would tour all 14 constituencies to campaign for his candidates. For him, this is a battle to send out a message: he has withstood all attempts at forming electoral alliances, forging a rebel identity for the JVM(P). He leaves Koderma, an unreserved seat from where he won thrice in a row. "There is no risk involved. Babulalji won there in 1998 and 1999 when Shibu Soren's popularity was at its peak. Now, Soren is a shadow of his self. Babulalji has been travelling in Dumka and saw that the party workers really wanted him to contest from there. Hence, the change in decision," said Rajender Tiwari, one of Marandi's closest aides.

It is too early to write off the 70-year-old Soren. After all, he won in 2009 despite being ill and holding only one public meeting. He had filed his nomination after being flown in in an air ambulance.