Former social welfare minister Louise Marandi (55) paid a visit to over half a dozen religious places in the morning before filing her nomination as the BJP candidate for the November 3 byelection at the district collectorate on Tuesday.

Marandi, a tribal Christian, will be backed by NDA partners AJSU-P, JD (U), and LJP. She began her visits with Shiv pahari followed by Dharamsthan, Durgasthan, Sai Mandir, Disom Manjhisthan, Pagla Baba mandir, Thakurbari and Rani Sati Mandir. After filing her papers, she said, “My nomination is on behalf of Dumka which is supporting the daughter of their soil this time.”

BJP veterans—former chief minister and Dhanwar MLA, state party president and Rajya Sabha MP Deepak Prakash _ and representatives of the Sudesh Mahto-led AJSU-P _ were among those present in Dumka while she filed her papers. However, all of them stayed away from the district collectorate in the wake of Covid restrictions.

Talking to reporters at the BJP office in Dumka, Marandi reiterated the party’s poll plank. “The utter lawlessness in the state is being felt by the public and we are committed to rid Dumka and the state from the incumbent government that has given criminals a free hand,” she said, citing recent incidents of crimes like rape, murder and dacoity.

Chief minister Hemant Soren’s younger brother Basant will take her on in Dumka as the candidate of the JMM-Congress-RJD grand alliance. Dumka is a seat reserved for scheduled tribes. In the 2019 Assembly polls, Marandi was unseated by Hemant by a margin of over 13,000 votes. After assuming charge, Hemant vacated the seat to retain Barhait paving way for the bypolls.

BJP delegation at EC door

A delegation of the BJP headed by state party general secretary Aditya Sahu submitted a memorandum at the office of the chief electoral officer, accusing the ruling dispensation of misusing government machinery for the elections.

Citing an instance, the delegation demanded transfer of Bermo sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) from the area till the election was over. Along with Dumka, Bermo will also hold byelections on November 3.

The memorandum read, “A month back, he was posted at DSP headquarters in Bokaro but was transferred as SDPO in Bermo within the same district in violation of transfer posting rules. This clearly indicates that the government is posting officials of its choice in poll-bound regions to influence elections.”