On 4 February 2008 a by-election was held in for the Simaria (SC) seat of the Legislative Assembly of the Indian state of Jharkhand.

[4] Before the by-election the ruling coalition led by Madhu Koda held 42 out of the 82 seats of the Legislative Assembly; 17 from Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, 9 from the Indian National Congress, 7 from RJD and 9 independents.

[1] The by-election coincided with the lapse of a 60-day deadline that the Indian National Congress had put forth to Koda to comply with a number of demands, and the party threatened to bring down the government if unfulfilled.

[10][11] Baitha presented his nomination papers on 17 January 2008 in the presence of Jharkhand Congress state President Pradeep Kumar Balmuchu.

[12] One hypothesis on why Congress decided to break UPA ranks was that it sought to use the by-election to 'test the waters' ahead of the 2009 Legislative Assembly election.

[13] Notably, Congress leaders had expressed dissatisfaction with the performance of the Koda cabinet in terms of development and corruption.

[14] The Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) candidate was Jai Prakash Singh Bhogta, a political newcomer in his late 20s.

[16] Key JVM(P) leaders like Pradeep Yadav, Ravindra Rai, Theodore Kido and Saba Ahmad came to the constituency to campaign for Bhogta.

[7][19] The Jharkhand Party candidate Meena Devi was noted for declaring the largest assets, 1,430,000 Indian rupees and two buses.

[17] In the by-poll Ram's candidacy was backed-up by RJD, Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM).

[23][24] CPI Member of Parliament Bhubneshwar Prasad Mehta declared Ram as the joint candidate of the United Progressive Alliance.

[18] However, the Indian National Congress (key constituent of UPA) hesitated to support Ram, seemingly wanting to field a candidate of its own instead.