Incumbent MP seeks to become first candidate to win thrice consecutively from the industrial city
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is aiming to secure the Jamshedpur Lok Sabha seat for the fourth consecutive time in the upcoming 2024 general elections, with incumbent MP Bidyut Baran Mahato gearing up for a hat-trick. If successful, Mahato would become the first candidate to win three times in a row from this constituency, which has been a BJP stronghold since 2009.
JAMSHEDPUR – Established in 1957, the Jamshedpur Lok Sabha seat has witnessed 18 elections so far.
The BJP has emerged victorious six times, while the Congress and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) have won four times each.
The constituency, known for its decisive Kudmi, tribal, Odia, Bengali, and Bihari voters, has seen the BJP experiment with candidates over the years, including actor Nitish Bhardwaj in 1996.
Bidyut Baran Mahato, who first won the seat in 2014 and retained it in 2019, has been renominated by the BJP for the 2024 polls. The party is confident of his ability to secure a hat-trick, which would be a first for the constituency.
"All the parties are busy preparing for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. This time too, BJP has expressed confidence in Bidyut Baran Mahato from here and he would certainly win comfortably," a party source claimed.
A look back at Jamshedpur’s electoral history
The Jamshedpur seat has been a witness to several close contests and political experiments. In 1957, the Indian National Congress’s M.K. Ghosh became the first MP from the constituency. The seat then alternated between the Congress, the Communist Party of India, and the Bharatiya Lok Dal until the 1980s.
The 1990s saw the emergence of the JMM, with Shailendra Mahato winning the seat in 1989 and 1991. The BJP made its mark in 1996 with Nitish Bhardwaj’s victory, followed by Abha Mahato’s back-to-back wins in 1998 and 1999.
The JMM’s Sunil Kumar Mahato clinched the seat in 2004, but the BJP regained it in 2009 with Arjun Munda’s victory.
BJP’s hat-trick aspirations
The BJP has scored a hat-trick twice in Jamshedpur – first with Nitish Bhardwaj (1996), Abha Mahato (1998 and 1999), and then with Arjun Munda (2009) and Bidyut Baran Mahato (2014 and 2019). As the party aims for a fourth consecutive win and Mahato’s personal hat-trick, the stakes are high in this industrial city.
