Jamshedpur: Jamshedpur parliamentary seat has a unique and challenging history. To date, no Member of Parliament (MP) has managed to win this seat three times. This historical trend is a point of concern for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as they prepare for the upcoming elections.
Several MPs have had the honour of winning the Jamshedpur Lok Sabha seat twice. Notable among them are Shailendra Mahato, Abha Mahato, and Bidyut Baran Mahato. Currently, Bidyut Baran Mahato is once again in the fray for the BJP, and the stakes are high. The BJP is acutely aware that no candidate has ever secured a third term from Jamshedpur, a fact that adds pressure to their campaign.
Shailendra Mahato, a candidate from the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), won the elections in 1989 and 1991. In 1989, he defeated Chandan Bagchi of Congress by 8,884 votes, securing 140,006 votes against Bagchi’s 131,122. In 1991, Mahato increased his lead, garnering 205,296 votes to defeat BJP’s Amarendra Pratap Singh by a margin of 56,247 votes. However, in 1996, Shailendra Mahato lost to BJP’s Nitish Bhardwaj, securing only 129,044 votes against Bhardwaj’s 221,702, which placed Mahato in third position.
Similarly, Abha Mahato of BJP clinched victories in the 1998 and 1999 Lok Sabha elections. In 1998, she defeated Russi Modi, the former MD of Tata Steel, by 97,433 votes, obtaining 296,686 votes. The following year, she secured her second consecutive win by defeating Congress candidate Ghanshyam Mahato by 121,488 votes, amassing 285,232 votes. Despite her strong performance, Abha Mahato lost in the 2004 elections to JMM’s candidate.
This election cycle sees Bidyut Baran Mahato vying for his third term. If successful, he will be the first MP from Jamshedpur to achieve this milestone, creating a new record. The BJP is hopeful but remains cautious, aware of the historical pattern that no MP has yet broken.
As the elections approach, the political landscape in Jamshedpur is charged with anticipation. Will Bidyut Baran Mahato break the historical jinx, or will the trend continue? Only time will tell if history repeats itself or a new chapter is written in the political saga of Jamshedpur.
Significantly, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) is betting on Baharagora MLA Samir Mohanty, given the substantial support from the Mahto community, which constitutes 22% of the electorate, second only to the tribal voters at 28% in the Jamshedpur Lok Sabha seat, designated as a general category constituency. In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the Mahagathbandhan had fielded JMM leader and current Chief Minister Champai Soren, who suffered a significant defeat to the BJP candidate, Bidyut Baran Mahato, securing 59.4% of the vote share compared to Soren’s 33%.
