The 28-year-old Mandal Murmu is a relaxed man today, but only a few days ago, he caused a storm in Jharkhand’s political landscape, leaving Chief Minister Hemant Soren and his party, the JMM, deeply frightened.
A native of the Barhait assembly constituency in Sahibganj district, Murmu is a descendant of the martyred brothers, Sido and Kanhu Murmu, revered tribal freedom fighters who led the great Santhal rebellion (1855-56) against the East India Company.
Barhait is the assembly constituency where Hemant Soren is contesting, and Mandal Murmu is one of his proposers.
What pressed a panic button in the JMM camp on Sunday was intelligence suggesting that the BJP was planning to field Mandal Murmu against Hemant Soren.
Reports indicated that he was on his way to Ranchi to meet with senior BJP leaders. A poll proposer—especially one descended from legendary and highly revered martyrs—turning into an opponent would have represented a surprising political maneuver by the BJP in poll-bound Jharkhand, enough to embarrass Hemant Soren and the INDI alliance he leads.
Martyrs play a significant role in Jharkhand politics, and the implication that the JMM had lost the confidence of even the families of martyrs would have been explosive.
However, the BJP lifted the curtain on this suspenseful political drama on Monday, selecting Gamaliyal Hembrom as the candidate against Hemant Soren.
The episode turned out to be dramatic and highly charged, deserving of a banner headline.
Until Sunday, the BJP had not announced its candidate, which created nervousness within the JMM’s core strategic group when state police reportedly sent intelligence that Mandal Murmu was en route to Ranchi to meet BJP leaders.
Mandal Murmu, travelling with two other leaders from the BJYM (Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha), was allegedly pursued by the police and finally intercepted and detained at Dumri police station in Giridih district.
The BJP’s Godda MP Nishikant Dubey condemned the detention, alleging that the family of the 1855 Santhal rebellion hero was coming to Ranchi to meet BJP leaders “to fight Bangladeshi infiltrators,” but was “detained” by the police. In response, the JMM launched a counter-offensive, alleging that an attempt was made to abduct Hemant Soren’s proposer to influence the election.
JMM spokesperson Suprio Bhattacharya further accused Jharkhand’s Chief Election Officer K Ravi Kumar, along with two IPS officers, Sanjay S Latekar and AV Homkar, of exerting undue pressure on the police to secure Murmu’s release. The JMM also demanded their removal from poll duty.
While the matter may have been settled, it seems to refuse to die. On Tuesday, during an inter-state virtual meeting on election matters, CEC Rajiv Kumar reprimanded the Jharkhand Chief Secretary and DGP over the incident.
Well-placed sources revealed that the CEC questioned how Mandal Murmu and the others were detained without adhering to police procedures and the rules outlined within the Model Code of Conduct. For instance, when the Giridih police stopped the vehicle, they did not record the incident on video.
Additionally, if no illegal cash or liquor is found during a poll-related vehicle check, the vehicle must be released. However, Mandal Murmu was detained and taken to Dumri Police Station, sources added.
While Mandal Murmu briefly became Jharkhand’s most elusive, sought-after, and talked-about figure, he debunked the JMM’s abduction theory. “Nobody abducted me.
It is absolutely false. Being a proposer doesn’t mean that I can’t travel and can’t meet someone. I belong to no party.
I keep meeting leaders across political parties and have good terms with all. I met Nishikant Dubey on the morning of October 27 to discuss employment and social issues. I was on my way to Ranchi for personal reasons and to meet some central BJP leaders to raise concerns about various issues, including infiltration,” he told News Arena India over the phone.
Even the JMM is confident that no force on earth can defeat Hemant Soren in Barhait, but the very prospect of Mandal Murmu switching sides to the BJP caused them to panic.
Whether the JMM overreacted or their concern was genuine remains up for debate. Publicly, JMM leaders may claim that they exposed and foiled the BJP’s game plan, but internally, they admit to having overreacted based on a disproportionate assumption.
Most JMM leaders initially believed that if a proposer of a candidate chooses to contest from the same assembly seat, it could trigger legal trouble for the candidate.
BJP leaders remain silent, unwilling to reveal whether they intended to prank Hemant Soren or had serious plans to create a Mandal versus Hemant showdown.
At this moment, BJP leaders share conspiratorial smiles, while JMM members breathe a sigh of relief.
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