Assembly elections are over in Jharkhand, but even after 5 days of the elections, it is not easy for many leaders to digest their defeat. Banna Gupta, who is considered among the prominent leaders of the eastern state, is also among the leaders who lost the elections. Congress leader and former state health minister Banna Gupta alleged that a 35-second video clip became a major reason for my defeat in the assembly elections.
Banna Gupta, one of the senior Congress leaders, on Wednesday alleged that a 35-second video clip which told half the truth about his campaign ‘as part of a conspiracy’ became a major reason for his defeat in the recently concluded assembly elections. Apart from this, he also claimed that the work done during his tenure could not be publicized properly.
Had defeat at the hands of Saryu Rai
Banna Gupta, who was the health minister in the Hemant Soren government, lost the election from Jamshedpur West assembly seat to Janata Dal United (JDU) candidate Saryu Rai by a margin of more than 7,800 votes. Saryu got 103631 votes while Banna Gupta got 95768 votes. In the election results declared on Saturday last week, the JMM-Congress-RJD alliance returned to power in Jharkhand for the second consecutive time, capturing 56 seats in the 81-member assembly.
Banna Gupta said, “As part of a well-planned conspiracy, a distorted video of my election campaign was made viral, which caused significant damage to my election preparations.” Former minister Banna, who lost to Saryu in 2024 after 2014, said that he did not take it seriously in the beginning because he had assumed that such things have become common during campaigns these days.
Half part went viral intentionally: Banna
He said, “I had said that if a Hindu fundamentalist attacks a Muslim, I will stand in front of him to protect him and if a Muslim fundamentalist attacks a Hindu, the Muslims will stand in front of him to protect the Hindu.” . He said, “However, only the initial part of the statement (a 35-second clip of my 75-minute speech) was made viral by my opponents. I had to pay a heavy price for this.”
Besides, the former Health Minister also claimed that development works worth about Rs 1400 crore have been done in his home constituency. It also includes the upgradation of a flyover and a hospital, but it was not publicized properly. In the end, Ban Gupta expressed hope that the work he has started for the people of the assembly constituency will continue without any problem.