The victory of NDA’s Sunita Choudhary in the Ramgarh assembly by-poll is a major defeat of the ruling coalition’s Bajrang in Jharkhand.

Sunita Choudhary of AJSU has defeated Bajrang Mahto of the Congress by over 22000 votes. The BJP did not field its candidate and its leaders campaigned for her.

So did the ruling JMM, RJD and Left parties by not putting up any candidate. Their leaders including CM Hemant Soren campaigned for Congress candidate Bajrang Mahto.

This is the first victory of the NDA candidate in the last five by polls since 2019 and is considered significant for the 2024 General elections in the country.

In all, 18 candidates, including 14 independents were in the fray. The contest was mainly between Congress supported by Mahagatbhandhan and AJSU backed by BJP for the poll.

The by-election was necessitated after the disqualification of Congress MLA Mamata Devi, following her conviction in a criminal case.

The Congress had fielded Mamta Devi’s husband, Bajrang Mahto, from the seat while the AJSU Party has nominated its leader.

Over 3.34 lakh voters, including 1.61 lakh women, are eligible to exercise their franchise in the by-election.