JPMS President poll: Marwari community rejects Bhalotia, Mittal wears the crown

Mail News Service

Jamshedpur, August 1: Basant Kumar Mittal was elected the new President of Jharkhand Prantiya Marwari Sammelan (JPMS) who outpaced his rival, Ashok Kumar Bhalotia by a margin of 501 votes. Out of a total of 3,586 voters spread across Jharkhand, 2,486 exercised their franchise on Sunday, July 31 at polling booths set up in Jamshedpur, Ranchi, Dhanbad, Hazaribagh, Dumka, Bokaro, Chaibasa, Ramgarh, Deoghar and Giridih. The result that saw Basant Kumar Mittal romping home to victory by a margin of 501 votes was a clear indication of the Marwari Sammelans’ rejection of Ashok Bhalotia’s claim to the highest state pedestal.

For the record, Ashok Bhalotia garnered 983 votes while Basant Mittal counted his way to the victory stand with 1,484 in his kitty. Among the total votes polled, 19 were rejected. Chief Electoral Officer Vinod Jain, Election Officers Kamal Kedia and Manoj Bajaj released the results of the Election Steering Committee in Ranchi on Monday.

In Jamshedpur, 677 out of 834 votes were cast in which, Ashok Bhalotia received 474 while Basant Kumar Mittal got 195 votes.

It may be informed that Basant Kumar Mittal is the Secretary of the Akhil Bharatiya Marwari Sammelan and is considered an expert for his acumen in organizational matters including expanding membership base. Due to his consistent tours across he meets and gets to know problems of the Marwari community that has made Basant Mittal a popular executive of the nation body of the Marwari Sammelan. The other factor for his popularity is that he makes himself available for people and is committed to community development.