JMM veteran Ramdas Soren’s gleaming white Mahindra Scorpio moves towards Ghatshila, one of the seven Assembly constituencies in East Singhbhum, where an interesting three-cornered battle awaits in phase two of the polls.

Former MLA Soren’s main challengers in Ghatshila, a Scheduled Tribe reserved seat, are Lakhan Mardi, vice-president of the BJP state ST Morcha who is a new face, and Pradeep Balmuchu of the Ajsu Party who recently switched over from the Congress.

Laxman Tudu, Ghatshila’s sitting MLA of the BJP, who Soren had lost to in 2014, did not get the party ticket this time. Insiders said chief minister Raghubar Das was displeased that Tudu rarely showed his face in his constituency, preferring to spend all his time in his Kadma home in Jamshedpur.

With new faces of former allies BJP and Ajsu fighting each other, and the JMM-Congress-RJD combine presenting a united front, Soren, 57, knows he has a shot at wresting Ghatshila this time.

“I am a tribal leader with a mass connect,” said the former MLA, who leaves his Luwabasa home in Jamshedpur for his constituency, at least a 40-minute drive, around 7am every day after his puja, and comes back late at night or stays over.

“And I speak from my heart, not in jumlas (gimmicks) like the BJP,” he said scathingly. “The JMM is not a jumla party.”

Visiting the interior pockets of his constituency, Soren, clad in his trademark white shirts, stops frequently to meet people on the way. “Informal chats help a lot to know what people are thinking, what they want,” he said. “From what I see and hear, people of Ghatshila are fed up of the BJP’s jumla.”

He added that in the past five years, nothing has changed in Ghatshila. “There is no BEd or medical college, no positive step has been taken by the BJP government to reopen the mines. There are no jobs, forcing youths and people to leave the place. What has the BJP done in this regard? They tried to tinker with the CNT and SPT Acts but stopped only due to mass protest. I believe there is an anti-BJP wave in Ghatshila and the party will pay a heavy price,” claimed Soren, who is also the JMM district president.

Considered close to the JMM’s Soren First Family, both father Shibu and son Hemant, Soren said he lost the last election to the BJP’s Tudu by around 5,000 votes but maintained his connect with the people.

“I have always been in touch with my people. I lost the elections, so what. This is my constituency, these are my people. I am not one of those who pop up only before elections.”

What are his plans for Ghatshila?

“I am really passionate about making Ghatshila a tourist hub,” he said. “The scenery here is stunning, the place just needs infrastructure and publicity to become a great tourist hub.”

He added that he would re-open closed schools, facilitate water for irrigation and stop the exodus of youths from Ghatshila. “I am confident that voters will not back BJP this time. We will form a government in Jharkhand under Hemant Soren,” he said.

Ghatshila votes on December 7