JMM banks on Marandi in Soren family borough
Marandi, who did her Masters’ in Santhali and holds a PhD degree from Ranchi University, is the ruling-JMM’s candidate from the prestigious Jama assembly constituency in Dumka district.
A few dozen villagers, most women, stand in rapt attention under a banyan tree at Patobandh village, even as 59-year-old Lois Marandi addressed them in Santhali language attempting to drive home the reasons why they should vote for her on November 20.

Marandi, who did her Masters’ in Santhali and holds a PhD degree from Ranchi University, is the ruling-JMM’s candidate from the prestigious Jama assembly constituency in Dumka district – the heart of Santhal Pargana in Jharkhand.
“This area hasn’t seen any development in the last 15 years. Guruji (as Shibu Soren is popularly referred to) and Hemant Soren ji, while giving me the ticket for the elections, told me that Jama needs me. I have been asked to develop this constituency, as I have done in Dumka,” she said in Santhali while pointing to the JMM’s symbol on a dummy EVM.
The crowd responded with cheers: “Shibu Soren Zindabad, Hemant Soren Zindabad, Lois Marandi Zindabad” .
Jama has been a JMM bastion since 1980 and has been represented mostly by members of the Soren family including Shibu Soren, the party patriarch who made his electoral debut from the seat in 1985 and his son Durga Soren. Sita Soren, the daughter-in-law of Shibu Soren was a three-time MLA from the Jama.
This time, however, the party decided to field Marandi from Jama breaking the four-decade-old monopoly of the Soren family over Jama. Sita Soren quit the party and joined the BJP ahead of the Lok Sabha polls earlier this year. She contested from Dumka Lok Sabha seat and lost and is contesting from Jamtara in this assembly election.
Adjacent to the banyan tree, under which the meeting was being held, stands a dais constructed last year with the MLA-LAD fund of Sita Soren.
Marandi , the lone Christian legislator of the BJP from Jharkhand, quit the BJP and joined the JMM in October this year. In 2014 she emerged as a giant killer while defeating Hemant Soren in Dumka.
“The BJP wanted me to contest from Berhait assembly in Sahibganj district against Hemant Soren. I have known Dumka like the back of my hand as I have been serving the people here for several years now. Hence, I quit. I was given a warm welcome in JMM by Guruji and Hemant ji,” she told HT.
Dumka district, which includes four assembly constituencies – Sikaripara, Jama, Dumka and Jarmundi – has around 43% tribal population. Except for Jarmundi, the remaining seats are reserved for ST candidates.
But Dumka also has around 6% Christian population according to the 2011 census. Locals said that multiple Christian missionaries are working in Dumka. Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren has also occasionally praised the contribution of Christian missionaries towards imparting education among tribal communities.
“There has been an anti-BJP wave particularly in the tribal belts of Jharkhand. The Christian community has been playing a pivotal role in mobilising the masses. This could be one of the reasons why the JMM fielded Marandi from Jama,” said Sudhir Pal, a political analyst.
Marandi, who has been with the BJP for more than two decades and has also been a minister in the state, is banking heavily on the legacy of Shibu Soren to win the seat.
“I am just a face. Guruji is the main force . But I am not new to this constituency as I have been working in Dumka district for several years now,” Marandi said.
Locals believe that while the JMM will get the lion’s share of the tribal votes in Jama, Marandi is also likely to nibble into the BJP’s vote share.
“The tribals in Santhal Pargana will mostly vote for the JMM. They identity only one leader and that is Shibu Soren. But as Marandi has been with the BJP for many years and she has a support base of her own, she may eat into the saffron vote bank,” said Shivlal Marandi, 77, a resident of Patobandh.
“Only results on November 23 will tell that,” said Lois Marandi, with a smile on her face, before her cavalcade left in a cloud of dust.
