JMM's Kalpana Soren leads by 26,000 votes in Gandey bypoll in J'khand

Ranchi: Kalpana Soren, the wife of jailed former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren, was leading by about 26,000 votes over her nearest BJP rival Dilip Kumar Verma in the Gandey assembly bypoll, election officials said on Tuesday.

She was earlier trailing by a margin of 2,242 votes.

The seat fell vacant following the resignation of JMM MLA Sarfaraz Ahmad.

The counting of votes for the Gandey assembly by-election is likely to be completed in 24 rounds.

The polls in Gandey were held on May 20, and 2.17 lakh of 3.16 lakh voters had exercised their franchise.

Kalpana had embarked on a political journey at the 51st Foundation Day celebration of the JMM in Giridih district on March 4, claiming that a conspiracy had been orchestrated by opponents ever since the Hemant Soren coalition government came to power in 2019.

Hemant Soren was arrested by the ED on January 31 in connection with a money laundering case linked to an alleged land fraud. He resigned from the post before the arrest.

Kalpana had been a prominent face in INDIA bloc rallies in Jharkhand and campaigned for the alliance in the state.

She was one of the prominent speakers at the 'Ulgulan Nyay' rally in Ranchi, which was attended by leaders of 28 parties on April 21.

After the ruling JMM-led alliance proved its majority on February 5 and her husband made a fiery speech in the assembly, Kalpana took to X to announce that the "fight against injustice and oppression will continue".

Kalpana holds an engineering and MBA degree.