A jubilant Congress supporter in Ranchi. A Telegraph picture

Ranchi, Feb. 27: Nine months after the Lok Sabha election results, the Congress seems to have frittered away its advantages in the district. The BJP, on the other hand, has stood its ground against the anti-incumbency wave, holding on to its 2000 tally of five seats.

Of the nine seats in the district, the Independents have bagged two, the Congress one and the JD(U) one. The BJP has retained the Ranchi, Kanke (SC), Khunti, and Torpa seats and wrested Khijri (SC) from the Congress. It, however, had to concede Hatia to the Congress.

A BJP win in Ranchi was expected, largely due to the Congress? choice of candidate, Gopal Sahu. Sahu?s first mistake was to shift his election office from the Congress headquarters at Sradhanand Road to a private house on Circular Road. Already saddled with an image of a high profile social life, the move alienated party workers, said a party leader. BJP MLA C.P. Singh had no trouble holding on to his seat.

The BJP?s second successive victory in Torpa is significant not least because the area is known for its missionary presence. It is also the bastion of N.E. Horo, the ageing leader of Jharkhand Party, who lost, as in last year, to BJP?s Koche Munda.

Jharkhand Party was the first to raise the voice for a separate Jharkhand state and had won the seat seven times out of 11 elections held till 2000. Last year, Koche Munda defeated Horo by 3,097 votes.

The BJP cadre had to work hard to retain Kanke (SC) seat. The party replaced sitting MLA Ram Chander Naik with Ram Chander Baitha, a decision which has paid off. In 2000, two-time MLA Baitha was denied the party ticket because of his poor performance. But good booth management this time nullified any threat from a disgruntled Naik as well as the challenge from Jharkhand Mukti Morcha?s Samrilal. Road construction minister Sudesh Mahto and an NDA ally has retained the Silli seat on a UGDP ticket.

Bandhu Tirkey, Jharkhand Janadhikar Party (JJP) president, who played a leading role in the domicile agitation, wrested the Mandar (ST) seat from the Congress, defeating Dev Kumar Dhan. Dhan had also shot into the limelight by insisting on the 1932 land records as the reference point for domicile status.

The one move of the Congress which paid off was fielding Gopal Nath Shahdeo in Hatia. The scion of the Shahdeo family switched over from the BJP to get the Congress ticket. The victory is sweeter as Hatia has been jinxed for Congress candidates since 1977. One of the factors was the rebellion of former commerce and law minister Ramji Lal Sarda, who contested this time as an Independent candidate after being denied the BJP ticket. Sarda, three-time MLA, was replaced with businessman K.K. Poddar, a novice in politics, which did not go down well with the electorate.

Former excise minister Ramesh Singh Munda of Janata Dal (United) has retained the Tamar(ST) seat, defeating Congress?s Kali Charan Munda for the second time in a row. Kali Charan had defeated Ramesh Singh in 1995.

After the Lok Sabha defeat, Karia Munda made a comeback to wrest Khijri (ST) seat from the Congress?s Sawna Lakra by 2,637 votes. Khijri, a mixture of rural and industrial units, is a traditional Congress seat. This seat has been won five times by the party since 1967. Sawna Lakra had defeated BJP?s Duti Pahan last year.