LS polls: Multi-cornered contest makes it tough for Jharkhand veterans

Yoga71

Editor

posted on 10 years ago — updated on 1 second ago

46
views

Some high profile names in the fray are Amitabh Chaudhary, Subodh Kant Sahay, Karia Munda, Jayant Sinha and Sudesh Mahto.

Jharkhand's capital Ranchi and five other constituencies will vote on April 17 in the fifth phase of elections which will see the electorate exercising their franchise in 121 seats across the country. The five other seats are Hazaribagh, Jamshedpur, Giridih, Singhbhum (ST) and Khunti (ST). As per the original schedule Hazaribagh was to vote on April 10 but the Election Commission moved the polling date to April 17 because of Ram Navami festival.

All the seats are witnessing multi-cornered contests with Ranchi and Hazaribagh being the two seats where the stakes are the highest. None of seats have given a clear indication of a frontrunner even though the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is ahead of its rivals. But with several strong candidates in every seat and a spilt in the traditional vote banks imminent, none of the parties are taking any seat lightly.

The Congress is fighting in alliance with Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and Rashtriya Janata Dal while Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress has inducted several turncoats to enter the electoral fray.

All Jharkhand Students Union and Jharkhand Vikas Morcha Prajatantrik, too, are strong in several seats and their performance will have a major impact of the final results. Even if the two parties don't win many seats, their candidates can eat into the traditional vote banks of others and make or mar the chances of rival contestants.

There are a total of 106 candidates including 7 women whose fate would be decided by 85,25,179 voters out of which 44,49,057 are males, 40,70,767 women, 14 others and 5,341 service voters.

Security is once again the major concern with all constituencies being Maoist infested. Khunti, Giridih and Hazaribagh are the worst affected and around 45,000 security personnel belonging to Central paramilitary forces, Jharkhand Armed Police, and home guards have been deployed. The administration also has six helicopters with two deployed for air surveillance.

Among the 106 candidates are some high profile names like Jharkhand State Cricket Association President Amitabh Chaudhary, sitting Ranchi MP Subodh Kant Sahay, Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker and BJP sitting MP from Khunti Karia Munda, Hazaribagh BJP MP Yashwant Sinha's son Jayant Sinha, Jamshedpur MP Ajay Kumar and All Jharkhand Students Union President Sudesh Mahto.

The seats going to polls:

Ranchi: Here the fight is between sitting Congress MP Subodh Kant Sahay, Jharkhand Cricket Association President Amitabh Choudhary, BJP's Ram Tahal Choudhary and AJSU chief Sudesh Mahto.

Sahay's biggest problem is anti-incumbency and the poor image of the Congress-led UPA government. Faced with three strong rivals, Sahay is betting on his connect with the voters, and the alliance with JMM and Congress. One the other hand Amitabh Choudhary, a no-nonsense former IPS officer credited with restoring the law and order in Ranchi, is confident that his tenure as Ranchi SSP from 1997 to 1999 will help him sail through. In a unique style of campaigning Choudhary toured the constituency standing on a motorcycle driven by one of his supporters.

Ram Tahal Choudhary, who has represented Ranchi four times, and Sudesh Mahto, a former Jharkhand deputy chief minister, are making it tough for the other two candidates. Ram Tahal Choudhary is hopeful that the hard work of BJP and RSS cadre along with the poor performance of the Congress at the Centre will ensure his victory while Mahto is trying to play the giant killer. Popular tribal leader Bandhu Tirkey contesting on TMC ticket is yet another contender and has a strong base in the rural areas.

Even though AAm Aadmi Party has put up Amanullah Aman, a chemical engineer from IIT Kharagpur and MBA from Oxford University, yet the party's campaign has been lacklustre and is unlikely to make any difference.

Hazaribagh: The constituency presents an interesting picture with BJP sitting MP Yashwant Sinha's son Jayant contesting much to the discomfiture of local party leaders many of whom have left the party in the last few weeks. The contest is a tough one with BJP's rival putting up strong candidates to wrest the seat from the saffron party. The total number of candidates is 20.

Yashwant Sinha has represented Hazaribagh thrice - 1998, 1999 and 2009. He lost the 2004 elections to Communist Party of India's Bhuwaneshwar Mehta who is in the fray yet again. The other strong contender is Congress MLA Saurabh Narain Singh who belongs to the Ramgarh royal family. He, too, had contested in 2009.

All Jharkhand Students Union's Loknath Mahto completes the fourth corner of the contest. Mahto is a former BJP MLA belonging to the Koeri caste. He is likely to make a huge dent in the OBC vote bank of Keoris and Kurmi who form the largest chunk of voters in the constituency and have been backing the saffron party.

Aware of the tough battle, the 49-year-old Jayant who quit investment firm Omidyar Network to contest the elections, has sought votes on the slogan - Ek vote dijiye aur teen laabh lijiye. Pehla Jayant ke roop mein naya saansad, doosra mere pita Yashwant ka anubhav aur margdarshan aur teesra Modi ke aane se Hazaribagh ka laabh hoga (One vote will bring three benefits. You will get a new and modern thinking MP in Jayant, secondly the experience and guidance of Yashwant Sinha and thirdly Hazaribagh will develop if Modi becomes the prime minister).

Jamshedpur: Sitting MP Jharkhand Vikas Morcha Prajatantrik Ajay Kumar had trounced former Jharkhand BJP president Dineshanand Goswami in the 2011 by-election but faces a tough battle this time. In a bid to consolidate the Kurmi voters BJP has put up Behragora MLA Bidyut Baran Mahato, who quit the JMM recently to contest the Lok Sabha elections.

As Mahto is the only Kurmi candidate out of the 15 in the fray, the BJP is hopeful of reclaiming the seat which its leader and former Jharkahnd chief minister Arjun Munda had won convincingly in 2009. Kurmis are in a majority in the rural segment of the constituency and can make or mar the fortunes of any candidate.

JMM candidate Niroop Mahanty is trying to make it tough for the others by pointing out his son-of-soil image. He hopes that his connection with Tata Steels where he was a Vice President, social work in the area along with his educational qualification will make the urban voters back him. JMM used Sudhir Mahto's widow Sabita Mahato during the campaign extensively to woo the Kurmi voters.

Giridih Ravindra Kumar Pandey of the BJP is the sitting MP and the party has repeated him. Pandey faces a tough fight with JMM's Jagarnath Mahto and JVMP candidate Saba Ahmad, too, mounting an aggressive campaign.

AJSU candidate Umesh Chandra Mehta and Ashutosh Verma of the Trinamool Congress are also in the fray from Giridih which has a total of 17 contestants.

The rural areas has Maoist stronghold and campaigning has been low key there. A low turnout will have an impact on the result as parties like JMM and JVMP have a strong presence in rural segments of the constituency.

Singhbhum: With sitting MP Madhu Koda not contesting and instead campaigning for his wife Geeta, a Jai Bharat Samantha Party (JBSP) candidate, the seat is witnessing a four-cornered contest between Chitrasen Sinku of the Congress, JVMP's Dashrath Gagrai and BJP candidate Laxman Giluwa. There are a total of 12 candidates but other than the four above none of them are in any position to make a mark.

Almost half of Singbhum is a Maoist stronghold and security is a big issue. Despite spending three years in jail in a corruption case, Madhu Koda is popular in this rural constituency.

The votes polled by Geeta will have a bearing on who wins Singbhum.

Khunti: BJP candidate and Deputy Speaker in 15th Lok Sabha Karia Munda is the frontrunner here. He is the sitting MP and his simple lifestyle and easily accessibility has ensured that he is the top choice for the voters. Munda has been a seven-time MP and faces Congress's Kali Charan Munda, Neil Tirkey of the AJSU and Basant Kumar Longa of the JVMP.

There are a total of 14 candidates in the fray and Munda's main challengers are Kali Charan Munda and Basant Kumar Longa.

Key facts:

Total Electors: 85,25,179

Male: 44,49,057

Female: 40,70,767

Others: 14

Service: 5,341

Number Types of Parliamentary Constituencies: 6

General: 4

ST: 2

Total number of Candidates: 106

Total Number of Female candidates: 7