Na jaat ko na pat ko, nahi bhedo ke jamat ko: desh agar bachana hai to mazboot karo hath ko (Neither for caste nor for terror or the herd of sheep: If country is to be saved, the hand has to be strengthened) reads the banner put up by Congress candidate Simon Marandi here.The banner depicts a map of India with a life-size image of Sonia Gandhi. Below it runs the party’s ubiquitous fawning line: Desh ka neta kaisa ho, Sonia Gandhi jaisa ho (How should the leader of the nation be? Like Sonia Gandhi).Marandi, who has been criss-crossing the Dumka Lok Sabha seat without let-up for the past two weeks, is focusing on Sonia during his campaign. Today, Rashtriya Janata Dal Chief Laloo Yadav addressed a poll meeting here in his support.But nowhere during his half-an-hour-long, extempore tirade against the Centre did Laloo say a word about Sonia.Dumka, considered a bastion of Santhals, encompasses six Assembly seats —Dumka, Jama, Sarath, SikariPara, Jamtara and Nala. While the first four were represented by the JMM and the last by the CPI, Jamatara was represented by the Congress.As one drives down the state highway from Dumka, the headquarter town of the Santhal Pargana division in Jharkhand, towards Masanjore, life seems normal. On the face of it there is hardly any poll activity. But everywhere on the 30 km long route people can be seen discussing the issue animatedly.At Masanjore a group of Santhals was heard speaking in favour of BSP supremo Kanshi Ram whose party has fielded its candidate for the first time in Dumka. ‘‘We will vote for Kansi Ram,’’ said Gangadhar Hansda.Asked why, Hansda’s elder brother Jogam Hembram said that the three main contestants Simon Marandi, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha’s Shibu Soren and the BJP’s Ramesh Hembram were all old faces. ‘‘Kanshi Ram is the new entrant. So he should be given the chance,’’ reasoned Hembram.Dumka is dominated by Christian Santhals and Muslims. The JMM MLA from Dumka, Stephen Marandi, is an influential Christian Santhal leader who is working day and night to garner votes for Soren. ‘‘Christians and Muslims will vote for us and we will win with a huge margin,’’ predicts JMM poll committee member Vikas Kumar.But a pollster shoots down his claim. Polarisation of over 1.85 lakh Christian and Muslim votes in favour of Marandi is likely, he said.In pockets of Dumka, Jamtara, Nala, Sikaripara, Sarath and Jamtara, the BJP has made concerted efforts to mobilise votes. Street corner meetings and door to door campaigning are regular excercises.However, the BJP whose leader and the state Chief Minister Babulal Marandi has won the seat twice since 1998, does not have any poll office in several panchayats. ‘‘We have not been able to create a leadership in several panchayats,’’ he admits.
