Kalpana likely to get new role as JMM VP in party reshuffle

Ranchi: Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) president Shibu Soren on Friday dissolved the party's district, mandal and booth committees across 21 districts, setting the stage for an organizational rejig in the build up to its 13th general convention in Ranchi later this year.Kalpana Murmu Soren, the incumbent Gandey MLA who forayed into politics a year ago, could also get an organizational role within the outfit after proving her mettle in electoral politics through her appeal during the Lok Sabha and assembly elections which were held last year. Barring Dumka, Hazaribag and Dhanbad, committees in all the 21 districts were dissolved. "Convenors have been appointed to form new committees and oversee a membership drive, which will begin on Saturday and continue up to February 28," party general secretary Vinod Kumar Pandey said. JMM's 13th general convention, which was due in December last year, is likely to be held in April this year, after the party's district units form their new committees. The district committees will then form its central committee, which will then elect the party's executive committee at the general convention. The tenure of the outgoing central committee ended on December 18. While ailing Shibu, in his eighties, is likely to be elected as the party's president for the 12th time at the convention, Hemant will seek his fourth term as the executive president. Hemant had first been elected as the executive president in 2015. The party's vice-president post was held by former chief minister Champai Soren for a long time until he resigned last August for being ‘unceremoniously removed' from the office. When contacted over the possibilities of Kalpana being appointed as the party vice-president, JMM spokesperson Supriyo Bhattacharya told TOI, "Decisions such as these are taken by the party's central committee at the general convention."Kalpana spearheaded the Lok Sabha election campaign in 2024 of the INDIA bloc and then the assembly election, where the JMM-led coalition of Congress, RJD and CPI-ML-L posted a thumping win over the BJP-led NDA block.