Elections 98

State:	Bihar
Constituency:	Dumka (ST)
Total Votes Polled:	601894
Winner: BJP	Babu Lal Marandi	277334
Runner Up: JMM	Shibu Soren	264778
Margin: 12556 (5%)

Elections 96

State:	Bihar
Constituency:	Dumka (ST)
Total Votes Polled:	528690
Winner: JMM	Sibu Soren	165411
Runner Up: BJP	Babu Lal Marandi	159933
Margin: 5478 (1.06%)

Right in 1957 the constituency had returned the JHP, a precursor to the JMM. Shibu Shoren, the JMM heavyweight, won for the first time from here in 1980 as an independent and was defeated by the Congress in 1984. Since then, he has won all the three elections from here, the BJP being a close second in the last two rounds.