Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren faces BJP’s Galiyel Hembrom in Barhait

Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren is contesting from the Barhait assembly seat against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Galiyel Hembrom in the state assembly elections that took place in two phases on November 13 and November 20, with the counting of votes taking place today. Barhait (ST) seat voted in the second phase of Jharkhand Assembly polls 2024.
Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) president and Chief Minister Hemant Soren has been representing Barhait constituency since 2014. He won from the Dumka seat in 2009 and again in 2019 along with the Barhait (ST) constituency and gave up the former in 2020. Hemant Soren has also served as the deputy chief minister of Jharkhand from 2010 to 2013, Leader of the Opposition, state Legislative Assembly from 2014 to 2019 and member of Rajya Sabha from Jharkhand from 2009 to 2010.
Hemant Soren stepped down as CM before his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on 31 January this year in a land scam case. The JMM then named party leader Champai Soren as the CM. After securing bail and getting released from jail on 28 June, 2024, Hemant Soren again took oath as Jharkhand chief minister.
Hemant Soren’s top competitor in the Barhait (ST) seat is BJP’s Galiyel Hembrom who lost from the constituency by a huge margin in 2019. In 2019, Hembrom had contested on an AJSU-P ticket and secured only 2,573 votes while Hemant Soren won 73,725 votes. BJP’s Simon Malto, who got around 47,000 votes, came second. Galiyel Hembrom was reportedly a teacher before joining AJSU-P in 2019 and switched to BJP after losing to Hemant Soren.
The Barhait Assembly constituency is reserved for Scheduled Tribes (ST) and located in Sahebganj district of Jharkhand. The Barhait Assembly seat is part of Rajmahal Parliamentary constituency and covers Barhait and Ranga police stations in Sahebganj district; Sundarpahari police station and Rajabhita, Kero, Kairasol, Bara Telo and Barapipra gram panchayats in Boarijar Police station in Godda district.