Kalpana Murmu Soren Hailed As X Factor As JMM Leads In Jharkhand; Know Her Odisha Connection

Ranchi/Bhubaneswar: Kalpana Murmu Soren, wife of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader Hemant Soren, was seen celebrating with party men as the Mahagathbandhan continued its lead in Jharkhand on Saturday.

After trailing in the initial rounds, Hemant Soren’s JMM-led INDIA bloc made a stunning comeback and is currently ahead in 58 seats in the 81-member state assembly. Kalpana has won from Gandey assembly constituency by a margin of 16,960 votes over her rival, BJP’s Muniya Devi, according to the latest trends from the Election Commission of India.

“”People have chosen the path of development. People have blessed Hemant Soren and the government of the public is going to come,” she told ANI.

While JMM is on track to secure a second consecutive term as part of the INDIA bloc, Kalpana is also winning praises for having steered the party’s ship in the Assembly polls along with her husband Hemant Soren, whom the BJP had dubbed as ‘Bunty aur Babli’. The couple held nearly 200 rallies after elections were announced.

Kalpana formally entered politics after her husband’s arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money-laundering case linked to an alleged land scam earlier this year and this was her second election victory from Gandey in Giridih district, home to a large number of tribals and Muslims, after her maiden win in the bypoll earlier this year.

She had also taken charge of campaigning for the opposition INDIA bloc in the state ahead of Lok Sabha elections. And within a year, she drew attention with her public speaking skills and ability to connect with women voters, leading to a demand for her rallies.

Her rallies, in the run tup to the Assembly polls, were hailed as a game changer for the party. She attended nearly five jan sabhas (public meetings) through chopper each day while camping in Giridih, which is close to her constituency, and roadshows in the nearby assembly segment, India Today reported, quoting JMM insider.

Her Odisha Roots

Kalapana is a native of Tentala village of Bahalda block in Mayurbhanj district. She was born in 1976 in Ranchi where her father Ampa Murmu, a retired defence personnel, was posted at the time.

Eldest daughter of the family, Kalpana did her schooling at Kendriya Vidyalaya in Baripada, the district headquarters of Mayurbhanj. A sincere student, she got her BTech from an institute in Bhubaneswar and then an MBA degree. She got married to Hemant according to Santhal rituals on February 7, 2006. They have two children.

Following her marriage, the daughter-in-law of JMM chief Shibu Soren was running a business. She also kept herself devoted to social activities and ran a school. She was a regular in programmes on women empowerment and children welfare.

She was embroiled in controversy when former chief minister and BJP leader Raghubar Das alleged that Hemant misused his power to allot a plot for his wife’s business. Kalpana was allegedly allotted 11 acre of land from the plot pool created for the tribals to start industrial ventures.