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BJP's Geeta Koda lost Jagannathpur seat to Sona Ram Sinku in Jharkhand polls
BJP's Geeta Koda contested the 2024 Singhbhum Lok Sabha seat but was defeated by Joba Majhi of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, losing by 168,402 votes.
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Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Geeta Koda, who contested from Jharkhand's Jagannathpur in the assembly elections, lost to her rival, Sona Ram Sinku of BJP, with a vote margin of 7,383, according to the Election Commission of India (ECI).
The 41-year-old politician, who is wife of former Jharkhand CM, Madhu Koda, was up against Congress candidate and sitting MLA Sona Ram Sinku fro the seat.
Geeta started her political career in 2009 when she won the Jagannathpur assembly seat as a Jai Bharat Samanta Party candidate and retained it in the 2014 assembly elections as well.
Koda, who face cases of money laundering, joined the Congress party ahead of 2019 general election. She won from Chaibasa (West Singhbhum) Lok Sabha seat in 2019 general elections.
However, on February 26, 2024, she made a significant political shift by leaving the Indian National Congress and joining the BJP. The saffron party nominated her from the Singhbhum Lok Sabha constituency, but she was defeated by Jharkhand Mukti Morcha candidate Joba Majhi, who won with a margin of 168,402 votes.
Geeta relied on the image of PM Narendra Modi to turn around her poll fortunes, while her tainted husband, Madhu Koda, also in the BJP, worked behind the scenes.
While campaigning, she listed the promises made by her party in the manifesto and kept local issues alive among the electorate.
In 2017, Geeta Koda was appointed by Sumitra Mahajan, then Speaker of the Lok Sabha, to the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians Steering Committee (India Region).
In recognition of her work in social welfare, especially in aspirational districts, Koda received the Champions of Change Award in 2019, presented by former President Pranab Mukherjee at an event held at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi, on January 20, 2020.
In 2019, the BJP faced a heavy loss, securing only 2 of the 28 tribal-reserved assembly seats. This defeat played a pivotal role in the downfall of the Raghubar Das government, allowing Hemant Soren to assume the chief minister’s position.
