A day before Raksha Bandhan, Dumri witnessed the exchange of wishes among many men and women who were going door to door tying Rakhi. 

They belonged to two politically rival camps- one of the INDIA block headed by the JMM and the second one of the NDA led by BJP and its ally All Jharkhand Students Union( AJSU). 

Their women workers are playing a common electoral game-tying Rakhi on the right wrists of their respective male voters in their own areas of influence in Dumri where by-poll is slated to be held on September 5. 

While eight candidates are in the fray, the primary competition is unfolding between JMM and Jharkhand Minister Bebi Devi.

Devi is a joint candidate of the INDIA front. She is challenged by Yashoda Devi, a candidate of the AJSU of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

In fact, Bebi Devi is the spouse of former minister and four-term JMM legislator Jagarnath Mahto, whose death in April this year necessitated the by-polls. Yashoda Devi secured the second position in the 2019 assembly elections, during which the NDA constituents BJP and AJSU had contested separately. 

According to people close to the developments, the upcoming assembly by-elections are being viewed as a battle preceding the Lok Sabha and assembly elections scheduled for the next year. 

Also, it is a battle between Chief Minister Hemant Soren and Ex-CM Babulal Marandi. Both Soren and Marandi appear to be leaving no stone unturned to win the by-poll.  

However, since another candidate in the fray is a Member of Parliament Asaduddin Owaisi’s led AIMIM’s Maulana Abdul Mobin Rizwi who can gain a section of Muslim votes, the JMM-led INDIA camp’s prospect lies in the red zone. 

This is also because the BJP, unlike in 2019, is solidly backing AJSU. Bebi Devi is the spouse of former minister and four-term JMM legislator Jagarnath Mahto, whose death in April this year necessitated the by-polls. 

Yashoda Devi secured the second position in the 2019 assembly elections, during which the NDA constituents BJP and AJSU had contested separately.