Jharkhand Election: Himanta Mocks JMM Over Candidate Selection, Says 'I can Send Bio Data Of...'

Jharkhand Assembly Election: Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma has alleged that Hemant Soren's Jharkhand Mukti Morcha is poaching BJP leaders due to a lack of candidates for the assembly elections.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has accused the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha of trying to poach Bharatiya Janata Party leaders ahead of the assembly elections as Hemant Soren has run out of candidates. Himanta, who is also the BJP's Jharkhand Election Committee chairman along with Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, said: "JMM, which is the ruling party, wants to give tickets to BJP leaders as it has no candidate."

Himanta said that in Assam, the BJP won't get people from the Congress to fight elections. "Our candidates are already decided for the 2026 elections. But JMM still needs our candidates. If Hemant Soren approaches me, I shall send the bio-data of a few candidates."

Turncoats Getting BJP Tickets In Jharkhand, Assam

Notably, several of the BJP candidates in Jharkhand are JMM turncoats. These include leaders like Champai Soren and his son Babulal, Sita Soren, Lobin Hembrom, Manju Devi, Ganga Narayan, Geeta Kora, and Ramchandra Chandravanshi. This has sparked resentment among the BJP leaders.

Even in the last assembly elections in Assam in 2021, the BJP had fielded Congress turncoats like Pijush Hazarika, Ajanta Neog, Jayanta Malla Baruah, Taranga Gogoi, and Gautam Roy, who are known to be Himanta loyalists. While Hazarika and Baruah joined the BJP in 2015 right after Himanta made his switch, the others made their move after the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Himanta On Kunal Sarangi's Switch

Himanta also mentioned Kunal Sarangi, who jumped back to the JMM on Tuesday. Himanta said: "Kunal Sarangi had asked me for a ticket. He even went to Odisha to meet me. But I had to turn him down because our candidates are decided."

After rejoining the JMM, Kunal Sarangi said, "I have returned to my family... this was a platform given to me by CM Hemant Soren, through which I got a chance to join Jharkhand politics." Sarangi also targeted the BJP, saying: "I joined BJP, thinking that perhaps I will get a chance to serve more people through the national platform. However, the opposite happens in that party. The only parameter for leaders there is how many 'Ganesh Parikrama' you can do every day to get promotions and how much flattery you can exhibit. If you want to stay in the BJP, you should also have a few degrees in corruption."

'Tejashwi Yadav Pleaded With Hemant Soren But...': Himanta Mocks RJD Leader

Taking a dig at RJD's seat allocation of 11 seats with the CPIM-L, Himanta said that this was an insult to Tejashwi Yadav. "Bihar now knows that Tejashwi Yadav has no brand value. By pleading at Hemant Soren's feet and visiting his home thrice, he benefited us because Bihar's people know that he is no big leader," he said. "In politics, courtesies are extended by leaders visiting each other alternatively. But Hemant Soren did not visit Tejashwi for once," Himanta said.

He also said that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had called RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav to request him to stay in the alliance. "Yet Hemant Soren did not go to meet Tejashwi," Himanta said.