The 13 Assembly segments of Jharkhand are going to polls on Tuesday and 199 candidates are in the fray. Fate of turncoats, local heavyweights, Independents, members of royal families and new coalitions are at stake.
The political atmosphere is uncertain to such an extent that parties expecting leaders to address their rallies find their cars parked in the headquarters of rival groups.
Garhwa, Bhavnathpur, Daltonganj, Chatra, Latehar, Gumla, Lohardaga, Manika, Bishunpur, Panki, Bishrampur, Chhatarpur and Hussainabad will vote on November 25. It will be an exciting electoral battle and there will be some close and big fights too. Here's a detailed report:
Lohardaga: Bhagat vs Bhagat
Fifteen candidates are in the fray. This constituency is dominated by Sarna tribes and Muslims constitute 16 per cent of the total population. Two party chiefs are facing each other and the prestige of Congress and BJP+AJSU are at stake. AJSU has fielded sitting MLA and party's Jharkhand unit chief Kamal Kishore Bhagat. He has gained popularity for development works as he engaged gram sabhas in decision making. BJP alone secured around 25 per cent votes here in 2009 and with AJSU together the coalition may get an advantage.
Congress' Sukhdeo Bhagat, on the other hand, has a clean image and is set to get minority votes that AJSU has lost after tie up with BJP. In 2009, he lost by a small margin of 0.5 per cent.
Latehar: Ram vs Ram
The BJP and JVM claim that they are locked in a bi-polar contest but the electoral battle is likely to witness a triangular contest as JMM candidate is a well known face and existing municipality member.
JVM's Prakash Ram has a strong hold on Muslim and SC votes. He left RJD to join JVM and is likely to get votes of his old cadre.
BJP's Braj Mohan Ram met with a fatal road accident recently and is likely to get sympathy votes. But since Ram was fielded at the eleventh hour following complaints that candidate Narayan Bhokta was associated with rebel outfit Tritiya Prastuti Committee, he is facing internal rivalry.
JMM's Mohan Ganjhu is an existing member of Zila Parishad and popular among rural voters. He has got a strong support from Ganjhu community.
In last elections, the difference of votes between winner and runner was only 438. Prakash Ram alone secured 32.44 per cent votes.
Hussainabad: Clash of socialists
Records say voters have always rejected big parties here. Since the region is located close to Bihar, parties like RJD and JDU have a huge support base. But this year, it won't be easy for either of the parties to easily sail through the tough electoral as they have fielded contestants against each other.
Sitting RJD MLA Sanjay Prasad Singh Yadav will face JDU's Umesh Sahu in a friendly fight. It is said the RJD did not want socialist partner JDU to lose its secular votes to BJP as feared, it decided to enter into a friendly fight with the ally.
Bishunpur: Bobby vs Linda
This constituency is known as Congress' citadel. But Independent MLA Chamra Linda got 37 per cent of the total votes in 2009 and won. This time he is contesting on a JMM ticket, adding JMM votes to his pocket. BJP candidate Samir Oraon is believed to be giving Linda a tough fight as the party performed much better than JMM in the previous elections here. Congress that got 23 per cent votes in the last polls has fielded its young woman candidate Bobby Bhagat from its precious seat.
Bishrampur: Dadai Dubey's prestige
Sitting Congress MLA and party heavyweight Dadai Dubey's son Ajay Kumar Dubey is contesting from this seat. Ramchandra Chandravanshi who jumped to BJP from RJD was defeated bu only 8300 votes in 2009. Since Modi wave is visible in Bishrampur, the prestige of Dadai Dubey is at stake.
Bhawnathpur: Deo vs Shahi
In 2005, Bhanu Pratap Shahi won this seat defeating Anant Pratap Deo and became a minster. In 2009, the roles had reversedand Anant Pratap Deo won. Sitting Congress MLA Anant who belongs to the royal Nagar Utari Garh family is contesting on BJP ticket. Former minister Bhanu Pratap Shahi is all set to give him a hard time.
Chhatarpur: Sudha Choudhary's vs BJP's local heavyweight
Sitting JDU MLA Sudha Choudhary is facing coalition partner RJD's Manoj Bhuiyan. Sudha Choudhary is a former minister and sister of former Bihar Speaker Udai Narayan Choudhary. The BJP is hoping local heavyweight Radha Krishna Kishore will win.
Garhwa: Triangular fight
The electoral battle in Garhwa is now a triangular contest between BJP, RJD and JVM. RJD president Girinath Singh is contesting from this seat. BJP has favoured JVM turncoat and sitting MLA Satyendra Nath Tiwary who defected to the saffron camp recently. In retaliation, BJP's Sao joined the JVM where he got the ticket to contest from Garhwa in no time.
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