Sukhdeo Bhagat For Lohardaga: When Congress Reposing Faith In A Party Hopper

Sukhdeo Bhagat has received the Congress ticket for Lohardaga constituency, even after his brief switch to the BJP, which underlines the importance he holds in the region. A prominent tribal leader, Sukhedo Bhagat, is pitted against the BJP’s Rajya Sabha MP, Samir Oraon, in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. He replaced the three-time sitting MP and RSS favourite, Sudarshan Bhagat.

Sukhdeo Bhagat has an interesting career trajectory. He started his career as a bank probationary officer, then became a bureaucrat. He served as a deputy collector from 1997 to 2005, when he resigned from the government service.

Sukhedo Bhagat made his political debut in 2005 in a Congress and was elected as an MLA for the Lohardaga assembly constituency. Though he lost the following elections in 2009 and 2014, he managed to secure victory when a by-election conducted for the same seat in 2015. He had also served as Jharkhand Congress president in 2013.

Ahead of the Jharkhand Assembly polls in 2019, Bhagat quit Congress and joined the BJP. Following, he contested from Lohardaga constituency on a BJP ticket but lost. He was defeated by Congress’ Rameshwar Oraon by a margin of 30,150 votes.

After his return to the grand party, Sukhedo Bhagat was made party in-charge of the Lohardaga parliamentary constituency last year. While submitting the nomination, the Congress leader claimed that he would win the election by a margin of 1 lakh votes.