Kalpana Soren, the wife of former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren who is at present in judicial custody, continued the outreach programme in Gandey Assembly segment, scheduled for bypoll on May 20 even as the Enforcement Directorate (ED) continued search operation in the alleged land scam involving Hemant.

Kalpana, who is tipped to be the JMM candidate on behalf of the INDIA bloc for the Gandey bypoll, met villagers of Gandey on Tuesday and urged them to vote consciously during the Lok Sabha and bypoll to safeguard their water, forest and land.

Kalpana, who is managing the social media handle of Hemant after his arrest on January 31 this year, by the ED following his resignation before the governor not only interacted with tribal women of villages in Santhali (local language) sitting with them on the ground listening to their problems but also urged the villagers to attend the April 21 Ulgulan Nyaya Rally schedule at Ranchi on April 21.

“Though she is yet to be officially announced as our party candidate for the Gandey by-poll, it is confirmed that she would be fighting from this seat and enter the Jharkhand Vidhan Sabha. She has been reaching out to masses not only in Gandey but also in different parts of Jharkhand highlighting that the BJP misusing the ED to arrest Hemant in false cases. Being a Santhali woman she wants to connect with tribals in their own language,” said a JMM leader.

The bypoll for the Gandey Assembly seat became necessary as it fell vacant following the resignation of the JMM MLA Sarfaraz Ahmad on December 31, 2023.
Ahmad was later elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha.