Ranchi: A day after her sister-in-law Sita Soren joined the BJP, Kalpana Soren, wife of former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren, took to social media to express her displeasure.
“Jharkhandike DNA me nahi hai jhuk jana (Bowing down is not in the DNA of anyone who is from Jharkhand),” she wrote on X on 20 March, also invoking the late Durga Soren, her brother-in-law and Sita’s late husband who died in 2009.
Sita, an MLA from Jharkhand’s tribal Jama seat, was not amused. In a scathing response, she asked her sister-in-law to stop “shedding crocodile tears” in the name of her husband. “If me and my children expose the horrific truth, the political dreams of several people will be shattered. The people of Jharkhand will spit in the name of those who conspired to eliminate Durga Soren and his people.”
This exchange illustrates a curious phenomenon that Jharkhand is witnessing this election season — the battle of the Soren bahus (daughters-in-law). At the root of this struggle is the political legacy of their father-in-law and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) founder and chief Shibu Soren and the fight for tribal votes.
With her husband in jail over corruption allegations, Kalpana now appears to be taking a more central role in the party, holding meetings, mobilising cadres, and even addressing rallies. Meanwhile, Sita, who faces the likelihood of a trial in a cash-for-vote scam case, will contest the Lok Sabha election from Dumka — a seat that, until 2019, was considered the bastion of former Jharkhand CM Shibu Soren, referred to in the state as “Guruji”.
When she switched her allegiance, Sita accused the JMM leadership of neglecting her. Since then, she has been pointedly targeting the Soren family and the party, even calling for a high-level investigation into Durga Soren’s death.
However, senior party leaders dismiss these claims. They also say Sita Soren’s joining BJP won’t impact the JMM.
“She will have to face defeat in Dumka and lose her current attachment to the BJP. Just because Shibu Soren lost the seat (Dumka to BJP’s Sunil Soren) in 2019, it does not mean that JMM’s influence is over,” senior JMM leader and seven-time Sikaripara MLA Nalin Soren told ThePrint.
Political analyst Rajat Kumar Gupta concurs. “Guruji’s decades-old identity in the tribal areas of Santhal Pargana (where Dumka is located) remains. Guruji’s name and the party’s symbol of a ‘bow and arrow’ are considered strong in the area,” he said.
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Sita Soren’s battles with the JMM
The last few months have seen rapid changes in the fortunes of the JMM. First came the arrest of Hemant Soren in January, forcing the party to name a new chief minister, Champai Soren.
Meanwhile, Sita, accused of accepting a bribe from an independent candidate in the 2012 Rajya Sabha elections, had a major legal setback. In March, the Supreme Court turned down her petition and overturned its own 1998 ruling that said MPs and MLAs enjoy parliamentary immunity even in bribery cases.
The latest ruling meant that Sita could now be tried in the case. The Jama MLA joined the BJP soon after this.
It was in 2009 — after her husband Durga died from what the family said was a brain haemorrhage — that Sita first joined active politics. If he hadn’t died, Durga, being the JMM founder’s oldest son, would have eventually taken over the party.
Since then, Sita has won the Jama assembly seat thrice — 2009, 2014, and 2019.
Kalpana Soren, meanwhile, is married to former Jharkhand CM and Barhait MLA Hemant Soren.
Shibu’s third and younger son Basant Soren, an MLA from Dumka, is a minister in Champai Soren’s government.
All three seats — Jama, Barhait, and Dumka — are reserved for tribals.
After Sita joined the BJP on 19 March, the party, which had already named its incumbent MP Sunil Soren as its Dumka candidate, accommodated her in that constituency.
The JMM, meanwhile, has yet to announce its candidate against the Soren bahu.
At a press conference in Ranchi on 28 March, Sita called for an inquiry into her husband’s death. She also accused Kalpana of omitting his name from a foundation day meeting she addressed at Giridh early in March. “I will not tolerate this insult of Durga Soren,” she said.
This was the first time that the Jama MLA publicly voiced her suspicions over her husband’s death.
In her resignation letter to Shibu, Sita claimed she and her family — daughters Jayshree, Rajshree, and Vijayshree — had been “victims of constant neglect”.
“It is deeply saddening to see that the party has gone into the hands of those whose vision and objectives do not match our values and ideals,” her letter said.
The JMM, however, dismissed these allegations. Talking to the media the same day as the Jama MLA’s press conference, the party’s general secretary Supriyo Bhattacharya said “bhabhiji (Sita)” was speaking in “BJP’s language”.
JMM’s Dumka district convener Shiva Baske also accused Sita of betraying the Soren family “during difficult times”.
“Tribals in the region are hurt by this,” he told ThePrint.
Kalpana — JMM’s new champion
In contrast, ever since her husband’s arrest, Kalpana appears to be front and centre in the party’s activities, not only addressing its foundation day programme but also attending the Opposition INDIA’s bloc public meeting in the national capital, including the one held at Ramlila Maidan Sunday.
Over the past month, she has been holding public meetings in the tribal-dominated constituencies of Rajmahal and Barhait, and, in her speeches, repeatedly accuses the BJP of targeting her husband.
Kalpana’s entrance into active politics seems to have the approval of both JMM chief Shibu and Hemant. According to JMM sources, the party sees her growing role as an important election strategy, with sources saying that she could even be made a star campaigner.
Political circles are also beginning to notice this change, with commentators now wondering to what extent she can cause trouble for the BJP.
For now, Kalpana’s focus appears to be ensuring JMM’s performance in not only the Lok Sabha elections but also the assembly bypolls to be held at Gandey on 20 May. While there are rumours that she could contest the seat herself, there’s no word yet from the party.
Dumka and its political significance
Dumka is an important constituency in Santhal Pargana, a region comprising six districts — Godda, Deoghar, Dumka, Jamtara, Sahibganj, and Pakur. Primarily dominated by the Santhal tribals, this region makes up the eastern and northeastern parts of the state and shares its borders with West Bengal.
According to the 2011 Census, adivasis make up a significant 26.2 percent of the state’s 3.29 crore population.
Over the years, Santhal Pargana in general, and Dumka in particular, has become a prestige battle between the JMM and the BJP.
There are six assembly seats in Dumka Lok Sabha constituency. Until Sita Soren’s exit, four were with the JMM, one with ally Congress, and one with the BJP.
JMM founder and chief Shibu has won Dumka eight times. In 2019, however, BJP’s Sunil Soren beat the giant by 47,590 votes.
However, the JMM patriarch is currently a Rajya Sabha MP and there are indications that he may not contest the Lok Sabha election due to health and age reasons.
Despite this, neither party leaders nor political analysts believe Sita’s joining the BJP will make much difference to the JMM’s prospects at Dumka.
According to Sikaripara MLA Nalin Soren, it was because of JMM founder Shibu Soren’s influence in the state that she won the Jama assembly seat thrice in a row.
Meanwhile, political analyst Rajat Kumar Gupta believes that although Durga had considerable pull within and outside the party, Sita has never been a mass leader.
“The second important thing is that the tribal society considers Hemant Soren’s arrest to be BJP’s ploy. The effects of this (thinking) will be seen in the future,” he told ThePrint.
(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)
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