Vananchal delay alienates BJP workers

Considered as BJP bastions, Hazaribagh and Ranchi represented in the Lok Sabha by Union Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha and Ramtahal Choudhary, respectively have 12 Assembly constituencies. Of these 12, Hazaribagh, Barkatha, Barkagaon, Ramgarh, Ranchi, Kanke, Khijri, Hatia, Mandu, Silli, Barhi and Ichagarh arerepresented by the BJP MLAs and the Congress has three seats. Mandu is represented by the JMM MLA Teklal Mahto.

As one drives down National Highway 33 from Hazaribagh towards Ichagarh, life appears normal and there is hardly any sign of election activity. Few saffron and tri-colour flags can be seen. Party supporters are using microphone fitted jeeps and vans to canvass for their candidates.

Alongside the highway near a dhaba in Hazaribagh, a group of youths play cards. Asked whether they will vote for Kushwaha, one of them says: 8220;We will never vote for him. He has not done any thing for us.8221; Harekrishna Mahto, the head of Marangi panchayat, says he will vote for the Congress candidate, Lambodar Pathak. Notably, Mahtaos and Kushwaha are Kurmi Mahto by caste.

Mandu constituency is also dominated by Mahtos. The JMM candidate Teklal Mahto has considerable influence in the constituency. 8220;He will win with a big margin,8221; claims a senior government official. His claim is based on the belief that Mahto hasa 8220;performing image8221; among the electorates.

At Ramgarh, Deepak Munshi, a paan shop owner, is sure that the BJP MLA Shankar Choudhary will lose this time. 8220;Nobody will vote for him because in the past five years he has not shown his face even once.8221;

Although there is no discernible wave infavour of any party, Hazaribagh, Ranchi, Khijri, Hatia and Kanke are not likely to witness a sharp polarisation of votes along religious lines. A fruit seller in Bharkatha, says that Muslims and Christians, whose population vary between 13 to 60 per cent in these constituencies, have never voted en-block. But a wide majority of them will vote for a party candidate who has the potential to defeat the BJP candidate.

In this belt of Bihar, the BJP has made consorted efforts to garner votes. Street corner meetings, rallies and door-to-door campaigning are a regular exercise.

In Kanke, however, the outgoing BJP MLA Ramchandra Baitha is busy canvassing against his party nominee Ramachandra Naik. Incidentally, Bhatia hasnot been given the party ticket for 8220;non-performance8221;.

The scenario is no different in Khijri. The BJP cadre is demoralised because Dutti Pahan, who was elected from this constituency in 1995, has been denied the party ticket. Irked over it, some of his supporters allegedly ransacked the BJP8217;s Vanachal Samiti office in Ranchi on January 24.

In the Congress camp at Icchagarh the mood is upbeat after the sitting Independent MLA Malkhan Singh against whom there are half a dozen cases of murder, loot and extortion filed his nomination on the BJP ticket.

The Congress workers and sympathisers in the constituency are extremely vocal against Singh. 8220;By giving ticket to the criminal, the BJP has exposed its real face,8221; says a school teacher. 8220;We will vote for Keshav Mahto Kamlesh8221; is the general mood in Silli where Kamlesh who was elected in 1995 is trying to retain his seat on the Congress ticket. But all is not well with the Congress either. A large number of Adivasis, Mundas and Oraons and uppercaste dissidents in the party are reportedly opposing the party nominess in Ranchi and Hatia, where the BJP8217;s C.P. Singh and Ramji Lal Sarda, who had won last time, are struggling to retain their seats.