Countdown begins for Palamau bypoll

The political climate in Jharkhand is heating up as the state gears up for the Palamau Lok Sabha bypoll on March 29.

The political climate in Jharkhand is heating up as the state gears up for the Palamau Lok Sabha bypoll on March 29. The election will be a test of Chief Minister Madhu Koda8217;s popularity. Also at stake is his ally RJD8217;s supremacy in Palamau, a Naxalite-infested constituency.

For BJP, it is a nail-biting wait to see if the voters will finally sway away from the Koda regime. While JDU8217;s Jeetendra Paswan had withdrawn his candidature, the BJP will return the favour by leaving the Jamshedpur Lok Sabha seat to the JDU. The seat had fallen vacant following the murder of JMM MP Sunil Mahato on March 4.

8220;Our alliance will prove to be a waterloo for the UPA not only in Jharkhand, but across the country,8221; said former CM and BJP leader Arjun Munda.

However, former speaker Inder Singh Namdhari, who had resigned as a JDU MLA from Daltongunj constituency, remains recalcitrant on his decision. 8220;I had not resigned to roll back my decision,8221; said Namdhari. As if losing him was not enough, the JDU suffered another jolt when former MLA Baidnath Ram quit the party. Although both Namdhari and Ram, who hail from Palamau, have declared that they will actively campaign for the BJP, none of the five other JDU MLAs had blamed the BJP for their exit.

The contest has become triangular with the Jharkhand Vikas Dal, a party floated by former CM Babulal Marandi, putting up Prabhat Bhuinya as its candidate. Bhuinya was being backed by Manoj Bhuinya, RJD8217;s former MP.

The by-poll was ordered following the termination of Manoj Bhuinya8217;s membership due to alleged involvement in a corruption case. Interestingly, after he was expelled from the party, Bhuinya has befriended Marandi. However, since the Congress and the JMM 8212; two main constituents of UPA 8212; have not come up with their candidates, the 8216;secular8217; votes are bound to get divided in favour of the RJD, said party spokesperson Manohar Yadav. 8220;We are going to win hands down.8221;

A section of the JDU dissidents, led by MLA Radhakrishna Kishore, may not back the BJP whole-heartedly. Kishore, who had bagged more than a lakh votes in the last parliamentary elections, has scotched the speculations saying he cannot afford to do anything to help the RJD.