Is Odisha Governor Raghubar Das Keen To Return To Jharkhand Politics?

Bhubaneswar: Is Raghubar Das, who took over as the 26th Governor of Odisha in November 2023, keen to return to electoral politics with Jharkhand going to polls later this year?

His appointment as the Governor of Odisha was then seen as an endorsement of Babulal Marandi as the primary leader of the party in the state by the BJP central leadership.

However, Das, who is said to have taken up the Governor’s mantle reluctantly, is again eyeing the Jamshedpur East seat, which he represented five straight times as MLA till his defeat in the 2019 Assembly polls to Independent candidate and BJP rebel Saryu Roy. “In a recent meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah, Das explored the possibility of contesting the assembly election and return to state politics. Since the meeting, the Odisha Governor has been actively participating in religious and social activities in Jamshedpur to sense the mood,” ThePrint reported quoting sources.

Roy, who joined the JD(U) last month, can pour cold water on his plans. “It has become a tricky issue for the BJP since JD(U) is keen to fight the Jharkhand polls on many seats with Roy’s being one of them,” the source added.

While Roy asserted that he would contest again from Jamshedpur East, Das told ThePrint that it was for the BJP leadership to take a call on it.

The term of the existing Jharkhand legislative assembly will end on January 5, 2025.

In 2014, the BJP secured a majority in the Jharkhand Assembly elections and this victory propelled Das to create history by becoming the first non-tribal and sixth Chief Minister of Jharkhand, completing a full term from 2014 to 2019. Five years later, the saffron party faced a setback as Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM)-led alliance, which included Congress and RJD, won an absolute majority by winning 47 seats.