Jharkhand polls: Young and educated, but still children of their fathers

Both are, however, products of privilege, the children of former legislators fighting proxy battles. The difference is that both fathers, educated themselves, have ensured their wards have completed their education before asking them to take the political plunge. Sharangi is the son of two-time Baharagora legislator and former BJP leader Dinesh Sharangi. The elder Sharangi, a doctor, was once the state’s health minister.

Of the two, Cinderella Balmuchu’s candidature was the more controversial. When the JMM-Congress alliance broke down on October 31 over seat shares, the JMM blamed Cinderella’s father Pradeep Balmuchu’s personal agenda as one of the main reasons. The Rajya Sabha member and former Pradesh Congress president, who has a PhD, has since managed to get a ticket for Cinderella in Ghatsila, from where he was MLA for three consecutive terms before being defeated by the JMM’s Ramdas Soren in 2009.

This newspaper caught up with Sharangi on Sunday as he entered the last half-hour of campaigning ahead of Tuesday’s election. His campaign had received a major vote of confidence from Chief Minister Hemant Soren, who addressed a public meeting earlier in the day. Almost all reports say Sharangi is in close contest with the BJP’s candidate, its former state unit president Dineshanand Goswami. Goswami is close to former chief minister Arjun Munda; Dinesh Sharangi — who was in talks to return to the BJP — reportedly quit the party over differences with Munda.

Sharangi, whom his supporters address as Kunal, signed out of campaigning by touring villages bordering West Bengal. He is a Brahmin, and so is Goswami. Sharangi believes he is part of a revival movement within the JMM. “Hemant bhaiyya wants young, educated individuals to come into the JMM so that it does not get stereotyped as a party of tribals,” he said. He cited the examples of Vijay Hansdak, lured from the Youth Congress by Hemant to successfully contest the Lok Sabha polls, and Mahua Manjhi, the state women’s commission chairperson who is the JMM’s Ranchi candidate.

Cinderella Balmuchu is reportedly fighting a tougher battle in Ghatsila. Unlike Dinesh Sharangi, who has largely remained in the shadows, Pradeep Balmuchu has guided his daughter throughout. In fact, if one talks to Congress workers in Ghatsila, the impression is that their “Dada” is himself contesting. “We supported Bidyut Mahato in the Lok Sabha elections because he is from our caste. Also, there was a Modi wave. However, this time, we have come out in support of Dada as it is a prestigious fight for him,” says Ashok Mahto, the president of the Congress’s Mahuliya panchayat unit.