Kalpana Soren, JMM leader and wife of Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren, retained the Gandey seat, defeating BJP's Muniya Devi in her Assembly poll debut. She first won the seat earlier this year in a bypoll necessitated by the resignation of JMM MLA Sarfraz Ahmad. A homemaker turned politician, Kalpana entered politics after Soren's arrest in January in a land case.