Dumka: BJP-backed candidates suffered defeats in most positions of municipal body chairpersons across Santhal Pargana division during recent polls, with the sole exception being Deoghar’s mayoral win.Results from Dumka, Pakur, Jamtara and Basukinath underscored a trend favouring independents and rebels over party-backed nominees.Abhishek Chourasiya, a JMM cadre who unsuccessfully contested the previous civic body election for the vice-chairperson’s post, secured the Dumka Municipal Council chairperson’s post with 6,781 votes from 23,084 valid ones, leading in both counting phases. Chourasiya defeated Ajay Kumar Jha Micky, also a JMM supporter.JMM at the organisational level stayed away from supporting any candidate in Dumka Municipal Council elections, as the BJP-supported candidate and two-time chairperson secured the third position.In Pakur, ex-BJP leader Shabari Pal, contesting as a rebel, won the chairperson’s post against JMM-backed Shekh Selina Sultana.Independent candidate Asha Gupta defeated BJP-supported Reena Kumari by 974 votes in Jamtara. Rita Chourasiya, BJP-supported candidate for the mayoral post of Deoghar Municipal Corporation, however, secured a win by a comfortable margin of nearly 2,500 votes from JMM-backed Ravi Rout.Sahibganj and Godda contests for the coveted post are yet to be declared amid multi-cornered fights involving BJP, JMM and others.
