In Jharkhand, where the BJP is hoping to bring a stable government, its challenge will be dealing with independents who have always held various governments to ransom. Madhu Kora, along with three other independents and an NCP legislator, brought down the Arjun Munda government in 2006. He went on to become the third independent MLA ever to become CM. The state has seen nine governments, five CMs and three spells of President’s rule in 14 years. Jharkhand’s independents recorded 6.89 per cent of the vote in the 2004 Lok Sabha polls. This was the highest in the country outside the northeastern states, J&K and Pondicherry. In the 2009 LS polls, the state’s independents took away 11.12 per cent, second only to Bihar. There are signs this is being reversed; independents could manage only 3.33 percent in the last LS polls. The BJP, which won 40 per cent, would be looking to end the influence of powerful independents. These include the five MLAs who brought down the Munda government. Though called independents, a number of them belong to smaller parties. Called the Pandavas, all of them are contesting, three leading their own parties. Kora’s Jai Bharat Samanta Party will field at least seven candidates, including his MLA wife. Bhanu Pratap Shahi’s Navjawan Sangharsh Morcha too, will field multiple candidates. Anosh Ekka will contest in the name of his Jharkhand Party. Hari Narayan Roy is no longer in independent: he will contest from Jarmundi on a JMM ticket. Kamlesh Singh of Hussainabad is with the NCP. The influence of unrecognised parties is another factor. In 2005, when the state voted for the first time, these parties took away 8.78 per cent of the votes while independents managed 15.31. In 2009, they got 14.78 and 10.61 per cent respectively. Three independents won in 2005; two in 2009. However, recent trends have had independents and leaders of single-legislator outfits migrating to larger organisations. Narayan Roy and Bidesh Singh, independent legislator who is now a Congress candidate, are among the examples. Bandhu Tirkey and Chamra Linda, who were leading single-MLA parties, merged these into the TMC. Stephen Marandi, an independent in 2005, is back in the JMM. Panki’s Bidesh Singh and Garhwa’s Mithilesh Thakur have joined the Congress and the JMM. Two legislators from Marxist parties, Vinod Singh of the CPI (ML-L) and Arup Chatterjee of Marxist Coordination Committee, will contest again. Gopal Krishna Patar, JD(U) MLA, is an independent this time. Babulal Marandi’s JVM-P, which had 11 MLAs, lost almost all to defections. The AJSU Party has allied with BJP.
