The only petrol pump in Silli town of Ranchi district never has an idle moment these days: young men fill petrol and roam the streets on bikes with flags of political parties tied to them. From a distance, the flags look the same, all with a generous helping of green. Closer inspection reveals the AJSU Party’s banana symbol on most, the JMM’s bow-and-arrow on some. Silli, which will vote on December 9, is set to witness one of the fiercest fights in the state, one in which egos will take a bruising. Three-time legislator and AJSU Party chief Sudesh Mahto, 39, is up against Amit Kumar Mahato, 37, of the JMM in Silli. This is the third straight time the two will face off. What makes this particular contest significant is the forces behind them. The BJP invited the wrath of the RSS when it went into an alliance with the AJSU, a deal driven by AJSU-supported RS member Parimal Nathwani and BJP leader Arjun Munda. The AJSU, which has six MLAs, will contest eight seats. The alliance not only angered BJP cadre but also a number of AJSU supporters, who left alleging Sudesh had used the deal to promote his family. For Chief Minister Hemant Soren, helping Amit win would mean going one up on Sudesh, who was a fellow deputy CM in the last Munda government. Sudesh, who his opponents allege uses money to buy the support of youngsters, has set out to disprove those who thought he would no longer have the resources after contesting and losing the Lok Sabha polls from Ranchi. He had used his time as a minister in each of the four BJP governments —his supporters address him as mantriji — to carry out extensive work in Silli and will now activate various networks created through Gunj Parivar, an NGO he runs. When Hemant Soren held a rally on Wednesday, he went all out against the alliance. “Sudesh has sold his party for Rs 200 crore,” he alleged. Amit, who defected from the BJP after realising he would not be given a seat, tries to portray himself as the boy-next-door who should be given a chance against neta Sudesh. “What good are the roads and stadiums?” he asked, referring to what Sudesh built. “Our farmers need need water and electricity.” Both are Kurmi Mahatos and each will eat into the other’s votebank. In 2005, Amit was 19,312 votes behind Sudesh; in 2009, he managed to cut the lead to 7,707. However, Amit has migrated too many times: he was a JMM candidate in 2005, a JVM-P one in 2009 and later went to the BJP before returning to the JMM. It is clear that in Mahato-majority Silli, his benefactors are the rich from other castes: Mukesh Sahu’s house in Silli has become the headquarters of each party Amit travelled to.
