The Kolhan region in Jharkhand was highlighted during the state assembly elections. A significant event unfolded when Champai Soren left the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha on August 28, 2024, relinquishing his cabinet position and membership as an MLA. Following this, the Hemant Soren government appointed Ramdas Soren to the cabinet as a replacement for Champai Soren.
Ramdas Soren secured his third term as an MLA from the Ghatshila constituency in the November 2024 elections, defeating Babulal Soren, son of former Jharkhand Chief Minister Champai Soren. He was sworn in as a minister in the Hemant Soren government’s cabinet on December 5, 2024.
Kolhan comprises the districts of East Singhbhum, West Singhbhum, and Kharsawan, an area where the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha has established a strong presence. However, August 2025 became a month of irreparable loss for the JMM, the ruling party in Jharkhand.
The state and the JMM were still coming to terms with the passing of Dishom Guru Shibu Soren, the founder, patron, former central president of the JMM, former Chief Minister, and Rajya Sabha MP, on August 4th. Further sorrow was brought by the passing of Ramdas Soren, the Education Minister and a prominent Kolhan leader, at Delhi’s Apollo Hospital on August 15th.
The deaths of these two important figures within a span of 12 days in August have not only shaken Chief Minister Hemant Soren but have also affected the entire party organization. The death of Ramdas Soren, who had taken over as Education Minister from Champai Soren, has raised a vital question: who will take the reins of Kolhan’s political landscape?
Despite these losses, the JMM still has many strong leaders in Kolhan, including Joba Manjhi, a former minister and current Lok Sabha MP, along with ministers Deepak Biruwa, Sameer Mohanty, Mangal Kalindi, Niral Purti, and Sonaram Sinku, who are working alongside Hemant Soren to maintain and expand the JMM’s presence in Kolhan.
The primary question is: who will be the next leader in Kolhan’s political arena? The entire Kolhan division and the state of Jharkhand are in mourning for these two leaders.
Earlier, on April 6, 2023, the JMM faced a significant loss with the death of Jagannath Mahto, the then Education Minister known as ‘Tiger’. He passed away on April 6, 2023, at Apollo Hospital in Chennai following a long illness.
Jagannath Mahto had undergone a lung transplant after contracting COVID-19, after which his health had remained fragile. During the budget session of the assembly in March 2023, his health deteriorated, leading to his admission to a Chennai hospital on March 14, 2023, for enhanced medical treatment. Jagannath Mahto was elected four times as an MLA from the Dumri assembly seat in Jharkhand. Following his death, his wife, Baby Devi, was brought into the cabinet without being an MLA first and was sworn in as a minister.
She was later selected as a candidate for the by-election and won the election as a minister. However, Jagannath Mahto’s political influence ended in the 2024 assembly elections, where Jayram Mahto, the head of the JLKM party, defeated Baby Devi, the wife of the late Jagannath Mahto.
With the passing of Education Minister Ramdas Soren, there is a discussion on who will inherit his political legacy and how it will affect the politics of Kolhan. Following the sudden deaths of two prominent leaders within 12 days, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, the state government, and the entire state are in deep mourning.