A STAR IS BORN

Kalpana Soren makes an impressive political debut, but faces opposition from within the Soren family and from senior JMM leaders

- BY SONI MISHRA

The beats of mandar, a traditional drum played by the adivasis in Jharkhand, can be heard at a distance. The sound gets louder as an election campaign troupe approaches a hamlet in the Gandey assembly constituency in Giridih district. People of the hamlet, Chamarkho, have gathered next to a narrow road to welcome Kalpana Soren, the wife of former chief minister Hemant Soren who is in jail. She is fighting a byelection to the Gandey seat as the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha candidate.

Kalpana alights from her vehicle and walks towards the villagers with folded hands and a broad smile. The women offer her water in a brass plate to wash her feet and garland her. A few of them sing songs of welcome. She touches the feet of the elderly women. Some girls in traditional adivasi attire pose with her for selfies. A woman with an infant comes forth to meet her. She takes the baby in her arms and asks the mother his name. “Ansh”, says the woman. “Oh, that’s great! My older son’s name is also Ansh,” she tells the woman.

Before moving on, she reminds the voters about the elections on May 20. “Remember, there will be two EVMs (electronic voting machines). On one, you will find teer-dhanush (bow and arrow, the JMM symbol). I am confident you will press the button next to this symbol and make me victorious. The other EVM is for the Lok Sabha election. There, you will find teen taregan (three stars, the symbol of JMM’s INDIA bloc ally CPI-ML). You must press that button.” The Lok Sabha constituency is Koderma.

A little ahead of Chamarkho, in Ghorband village, Kalpana is ushered into the courtyard of a house of a party supporter. She chooses a khatiya (woven cot) rather than a chair to sit on. She asks for water from a