"Conspiracy to cancel nomination of Hemant Soren": JMM's Manoj Pandey as Mandal Murmu jumps ship, joins BJP

Ranchi: Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader Manoj Pandey said on Monday that there was a "conspiracy" to cancel the nomination of Chief Minister Hemant Soren by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as Mandal Murmu joined the party.
"There was a huge conspiracy which was thwarted by us. The conspiracy was to cancel nomination of Hemant Soren," Manoj Pandey told ANI.
On Sunday, Mandal Murmu, the proposer who signed on Hemant Soren's nomination for the Barhait Assembly constituency joined the BJP.
Notably, Manoj Pandey drew parallels to the Surat Lok Sabha seat, where the nomination of the Congress candidate was rejected and a subsequent withdrawal of other independent candidates happened before the general elections held earlier this year, leading to the BJP candidate winning unopposed.
"What happened in Surat during Lok Sabha elections, the proposer being kidnapped, brought to their side, made to give statement that they did not sign. We received information on time that a few people and a 'middleman' MP are working to get this done. So, we went for damage control," Pandey said.
Further criticising the BJP, he said that they can see the "weakness" of the party as they try to hatch a conspiracy against anyone they cannot defeat politically.
He said, "We can see a weakness of the BJP. If they can't defeat someone politically, they hatch conspiracy against them. But Hemant Soren decided to fight but not to cow down. People of the state stand with him."
The joining ceremony of Mandal Murmu into the BJP took place in in the presence of Union Minister and BJP's Jharkhand election in-charge, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, and Assam Chief Minister and BJP co-in-charge of Jharkhand, Himanta Biswa Sarma.
Speaking to reporters Mandal Murmu said, "First of all, I bow before my ancestors...Sidhu-Kanhu, Phulo Jhano sacrificed themselves for this nation...I belong to that family. We will take the initiative regarding the demography in Santhal Pargana."
The Jharkhand Assembly elections will be held in two phases on November 13 and 20, with vote counting scheduled for November 23.