The by-election to the Ramgarh Assembly seat in Jharkhand on Monday is more challenging for the Opposition comprising the BJP and the AJSU than the ruling JMM-Congress-RJD alliance.

The by-election was necessitated after the incumbent Congress MLA Mamta Devi was disqualified following her conviction in a case for participating in a protest meeting at Inland Power Limited in Golain 2016 that turned violent and two persons died in police firing.

For the ruling combine, it is a challenge to retain the seat and also to keep a clean slate by winning all five bypolls, held since Hemant Soren took over as the chief minister in December 2019. The Opposition, on the other hand, is facing a more challenging job of winning at least one bypoll as it has not won any since 2017.

This is the 12th bypoll that the BJP-AJSU alliance is facing since 2014 and they could win only once in 2016. There were seven by-elections between 2015 and 2019when the NDA government, led by Raghubar Das, was in power in the state and the BJP won just one — Godda bypoll— in 2016, while the Congress and the JMM won the rest six— Lohardaga, Panki, Littipara ,Silli, Gomia and Kolebira.

In the next four bypolls that were held after the Hemant Soren government came to power, the JMM won Dumka and Madhupur while the Congress won Bermo and Mandar seats. In the Ramgarh bypoll, the ruling alliance fielded Mamta’s husband Bajrang Mahto who is facing, among 17 others, Sunita Chaudhary of the AJSU, his main opponent in a multi-corner contest.

Prominent leaders of both camps campaigned for their respective candidates at various meetings and road shows organised across the constituency.

While the Opposition highlighted the lack of development work done by the present government, the ruling combine stressed on work done and pro-people policies of the government and its intention of giving local status to those whose ancestors have land recorded in their names in the Khatiyan (settlement records) of 1932 and also raising reservation of government job to 27 per cent for other backward classes.

The ruling combine has also highlighted that MamtaDevi was implicated by the then NDA government. While AJSU spokesperson Deosharan Bhagat accused the present government of encouraging loot and jhoot (plunderingand falsehood), the party chief Sudesh Mahto claimed the people were with them, saying “The CM’s are sarkari rallieswhile ours are people’s”.

“The BJP government had falsely implicated Mamta Devi in the case for which she is in jail now,” chief minister Hemant Soren said at his election meeting in Gola. “Mamta had to go to jail because she participated in a public protest in 2016, which she certainly didn’t do for any personal gain,” state Congress president Rajesh Thakur had told at an election rally during the campaign.

“We respect the verdict of the court but the verdict of the people is awaited and we are hopeful of a favourable judgement,” senior JMM leader Mathura Mahto said confidently.“No one knows what will happen but there’s certainly a sympathy wave for Mamtathat will help her husband to a great extent,” said a journalist covering the bypoll.