Ambitious mukhiyas make choice difficult

Ambitious leaders of panchayat bodies are the newest phenomenon senior leaders in Bihar are grappling with — far too many of them aspir...

Ambitious leaders of panchayat bodies are the newest phenomenon senior leaders in Bihar are grappling with — far too many of them aspire to be MLAs and are pitching for party nominations. Panchayati Raj elections were held for the three-tier bodies in 2001 after a gap of 23 years and hence, success handy for Assembly polls.

In all parties, there is more than one claimant for any given seat and leading parties such as the RJD have as many as 35 claimants for some. With the elections to be held in three phases, leaders in Bihar are having a tough time handling ticket-seekers for one phase while running the campaign for another at the same time. Several mukhiyas and panchayat leaders are contesting as independents after being denied tickets by parties.

‘‘A large number of ticket aspirants are members of the local body. Ticket distribution has never been easy but this time, a large number of people have an additional qualification of already being an elected representative. We are having a tough time,’’ says JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar. Over1.4 lakh Panchayati representatives are set to enter the fray. Sanjay Yadav, a member of the Patna Zila Parishad, is an aspirant for Maner seat from JD(U) along with three others. Amar Yadav, presently West Champaran Zila Parishad chairman and son of gangster Bhagar Yadav, has pitched his claim for Nautan seat from RJD. Pramod Singh, a mukhiya in Chanpatia, also wants the same seat.

Some of these leaders, though, have got into the grind in politics already. Prem Sagar Prasad, a Zila Parishad member in Champaran, was earlier elected to the upper house of the state legislature. He began allying with the RJD with the intention of claiming an RJD seat from Sikta — when it did not come along, he tried LJP and finally got one from the BJP.

The rush, analysts feel, is due to centralisation of power by the state. ‘‘The government is unwilling to give any power to the PR bodies. Several times, the Patna HC had to intervene and direct the state government to concede powers that are constitutionally due to PR institutions,’’ says political expert T.N. Singh. ‘‘In West Bengal, DMs report to the district board chairman whereas in Bihar, DMs don’t take up the task…so every parishad chairman wants to be MLA,’’ adds social scientist Saibal Gupta.

The panchayati elections came after much prodding by the Patna HC. On March 20, 1991, 10 days after he took over as CM, Laloo Yadav had promised to hold PR elections within three months. Nothing moved for 10 years until a PIL and an HC order forced the state government. He’s taking credit, though. ‘‘After a gap of 23 years, it is I who gave power to the people…My problem now is that everyone wants to be an MLA.’’