The mandate for a brand new Government in Jharkhand came as a setback for host of old timers in the State politics, who have been around the power centres for so long. The long list of losers includes sitting head of the State, chiefs of political parties, the leader of Opposition and almost entire Cabinet.
The day started on a good note for the JMM as first two results in the form of Nirel Purty and Anil Murmu came into its kitty. Though, the sweetener ended on a sore note when its biggest leader and Chief Minister Hemant Soren lost right from the party's own backyard Dumka where the BJP's louis Marandi turned the table on him. Nevertheless, consolation win came for Hemant from another seat Barhait, he fought.
The upset was followed by the loss of three-time Jharkhand Chief Minister and the tallest leader of the BJP in the State Arjun Munda. Munda surrendered his Kharsawan seat to Krishna Gagrai of the JMM with a handsome margin of over 9,000 votes. The loss can be considered as nightmare for the leader as he was among the front runners in the Chief Minister's race as the BJP is all set to form majority government of its own for the first time in Jharkhand.
Amid all this, the biggest surprise came in the form of Babulal Marandi, the Jharkhand Vikas Mocha chief and first Chief Minister of the State. Standing on thin ice, the leader had contested on two seats -- Giridih and Rajdhanwar and ended up losing the both. While his old guard Nirbhay Shahabadi of the BJP drubbed him from Giridih, Raj Kumar Yadav of CPI-Ml snatched away the Rajdhanwar seat. The back to back losses to the once tallest leader of Jharkhand, who was as well defeated in the lok Sabha polls this year, is being considered to have sent him into political oblivion now.
Another grand gladiator fell in the form of unbeaten MlA for 14 years and AJSU chief Sudesh Kumar Mahto. His arch rival from Silli Amit Mahto finally managed to uproot him in the third attempt. Amit Mahto, an aspiring BJP candidate, when denied, had finally fought on JMM's ticket.
Talking about the incumbent Cabinet, the biggest name came in the form of Congress legislative Party leader and Energy Minister Rajendra Singh from Bermo. The second man in command in the Hemant Soren Cabinet lost the seat to Jogeshwar Mahto of the BJP. Other surprises came in the form of Rural Development Minister KN Tripahti (Daltonganj), HRD Minister Geetashree Oraon (Sisai), Agriculture Development Minister Banna Gupta (Jamshedpur-West), Minority Affairs Minister Haji Hussain Ansari (Madhupur), Annapurna Devi (Koderma) and Mannan Mallik from Dhanbad.
Along with this, Assembly Speaker Shashank Shekhar Bhokta of the JMM also lost election this time. Another notable name in the list is of Bagodar MlA Binod Singh of CPI-Ml (Coordination). Some turncoats in the form of Simon Marandi, Hemalal Murmu and Anant Pratap Deo also faltered.