Narendra Modi's Rally at Chatra

Chatra, March 27

BJP's Narendra Modi on Thursday said in Chatra town that this is the first election in which the country has decided on the result before even voting.

Modi was on a day's chopper-hopping visit to the state and addressed two pre-election rallies in areas with Maoist presence apart from a similarly troubled area in Bihar's Gaya.

Modi's visit coincided with a Maoist bandh in the state and at his first meeting of the day in Gumla, which falls within the Lohardaga Lok Sabha constituency, he told the crowds that he would like to see the hul - and not the bandook - in the hands of the rebels. At Chatra, he congratulated the crowd for turning up: "You have rejected them by coming here today." Incidentally, a Maoist bandh had been declared on Rahul Gandhi's last visit to the state, on February 7.

During his 35-minute speech at Chatra, accompanied by BJP candidate Sunil Singh, and flanked by Arjun Munda and Raghubar Das, Modi exuded confidence. "This is the first election when the country has decided the elections before voting. Otherwise, why should so many people assemble here on such a warm day? I bow before your effort," he said, without actually bowing. "After I form the government, I will ensure that your wait does not go in vain," he added.

Modi branded this election unique for the volume of support he has been receiving. "Usually, people come together to throw a government out of power. It is for the first time that people are coming together to say, "Modi ko makaan do." People are coming together to make Modi Prime Minister, to give Modi power," he said.

The lone Prime Ministerial candidate in the country had begun speaking as the first few rows of the crowd were involved in a scuffle with the police. Even though police personnel waved batons to drive them back, people managed to break through barricades and enter the area reserved for invited guests and the Press.

Modi's soon had the distracted crowd's attention and often sought responses from people assembled on all three sides of the podium. Dropping his voice, he did a good impression of Rahul Gandhi without naming him. "Other leaders will tell you, "Gareebi man ki awastha hai," and that is because they don't know poverty; they don't understand it. For such people, born with a silver spoon, poverty is a mere photo-op," he said.

In Gumla, he reminded the people that it was Atal Bihari Vajpayee's government that facilitated the formation of Jharkhand. At Chatra, he promised to complete a project that the same government began: "Vajpayeeji started work on the super thermal power plant at North Karanpura [in 1999]. My government will complete it."

Modi also touched upon Jharkhand-specific issues. "To save your youngsters who are migrating, save Hindustan first," he said. He constantly glanced at notes when talking about the state and was clearly briefed by the Jamshedpur-based Munda and Das, for there was a reference to the poor condition of the Ranchi-Jamshedpur road in faraway Chatra.

Modi ended with an exhortation. "Don't worry about the people with the bomb and the pistol; go vote on the 10th [of April]," he said.

PLFI, currently the most dangerous LWE organisation, attacks police for the first time

Ranchi, March 25

In what could be a major turning point in the battle between security forces and left wing extremists in Jharkhand, the state's largest splinter group on Tuesday made its first attack against the police.

Three policemen travelling in a vehicle were injured in Khunti district's Murhu after an Improvised Explosive Device allegedly planted by the People's Liberation Front of India went off early on Tuesday morning.

This comes at a time when the PLFI has taken over from the CPI-Maoist to become the largest LWE organisation in the state in terms of incidents. "The PLFI is now responsible for 36 per cent of LWE incidents; the CPI-Maoist's figure stands at around 33-34 per cent," said S.N. Pradhan, Additional Director General, CID.

Tuesday's incident is the first when the PLFI has attacked the police without provocation. "They have fired back during operations. They have also used IEDs against civilians to threaten them while extortion bibs. However, using an IED against the police is a first," added Pradhan.

The three - including the officer-in-charge of the Murhu police station, a Jharkhand Armed Police personnel and a driver - are out of danger. An unverified number of individuals have been detained by the district police for questioning. "This is a very, very worrying development and comes at a bad time. With the elections on, the movement of troops will have to be done more carefully now," said M.L. Meena, Inspector General, Ops.

ADG Pradhan said the PLFI was following up on a press statement issued recently. "They had put out a statement a few months back stating that they would now start targeting the police. This, they said, was because the police had taken out too many operations against them and left them with no choice," said Pradhan.

The PLFI, which is mostly present in Khunti and Gumla districts, has long left toeing the ideological line and has turned to extortionism. They have always been careful not to engage the police and concentrated on winning minor turf battles with the CPI-Maoist. However, an inordinate focus on the CPI-Maoist has let them grow and has allowed them to be ambitious - data available, from July 2011 to 2013 shows that even as the number of incidents attributed to the CPI-Maoist came down from 173 to 98, PLFI's numbers went from 46 to 83.

Kameshwar Baita hits a half century of criminal cases

Ranchi, March 25

If elected again to the Lok Sabha again, outgoing Palamu MP Kameshwar Baitha is likely to retain his record of the most number of cases against a member. In fact, his affidavit indicates he is set to improve on it.

In 2009, Baitha got elected on a JMM ticket with 46 cases against his name. His latest affidavit, filed since his defection to the TMC, indicates that he has achieved a half-century, with 51 cases.

Baitha had to attach four pages to his affidavit as his cases could not be contained in the space provided on the application form.

The former rebel seemed to have aged slowly as a Parliamentarian: if, in 2009 his affidavit declared that he was 56 years old, Baitha's current affidavit claims he is only 59. This is clearly a Jharkhandi phenomenon - Ranchi's outgoing MP Subodh Kant Sahai stated in 2009 that he was 57 years old; his current affidavit says he is 60.

Former CPI-Maoist Central Committee member Baitha has 23 and 17 cases in Bihar's Bhabua and Sasaram respectively. He has eight and three cases in Jharkhand's Garhwa and Daltonganj. Baitha is yet to be convicted. In 2009, he had 18 cases each in Babua and Sasaram and eight and two in Garhwa and Daltonganj.

Baitha was arrested in 2005 and released in 2011 after obtaining bail in all cases against him. He contested in 2009 while a prisoner and was in a Bihar jail when the results were declared. He had also unsuccessfully contested the 2007 bypoll from Palamu as a BSP candidate. Before obtaining bail, Baitha was housed in Tihar Jail during Parliament sessions.

The JMM ditched him ahead of the polls after the Scheduled Caste reserved seat was given to the Congress in the UPA's seat-sharing agreement. Baitha tried to go to the BJP, which turned him down. He is not the most high-profile candidate from the constituency this time, though - that title goes to former state DGP V.D. Ram, under whose tenure Baitha was in jail.

AAP Jharkhand split imminent; rebels to boycott 7 of 8 candidates

Ranchi, March 24

The Aam Aadmi Party in Jharkhand is on the verge of a split, with a section of its leaders deciding on Monday to boycott all but one of the party's eight official candidates and to nominate alternate candidates in four Lok Sabha constituencies.

The meeting, attended by party workers including a member of the now-disbanded Preparatory Committee and the former Ranchi Convenor of the AAP, decided that they would support only Khunti candidate Dayamani Barla. The rebel group has also laid claim to the AAP's official status and election symbol.

"We have decided to nominate Amit Kumar, who has been part of the anti-corruption movement for three years, as the Ranchi candidate. We will also have candidates in Jamshedpur, Dhanbad and Hazaribag. We are the AAP; our candidates will demand the broom as election symbol," said Sunil Mahato, former member of the Preparatory Committee.

Trouble within the party began on February 5, when the AAP's state incharge Somnath Tripathi tried to announce the formation of a 11-member Election Campaign Committee in Ranchi. AAP members had disrupted his press conference, alleging that most members of the committee were not even party members.

The immediate anger was brought on by the identity of the party's Ranchi candidate Amanullah Aman, whom the rebel leaders allege is not even an AAP member. "He did not even submit an online application for candidature. Amanullah Aman lives in Lohardaga - in 2012, he tried to contest the Hatia asembly bypoll on a Congress ticket; in 2009, he tried to get a Lok Sabha seat from the JVM(P). He is no different from the people the Aam Aadmi Party is trying to throw out," claimed former Ranchi Convenor, Ajay Chaudhary.

The disgruntlement spread and has now affected seven of the AAP's candidates in the state. "Most of them were not active in the party; they have not worked among the people here. Dayamani Barla is the only exception, so we will support her. Everybody else was sent from Delhi without consulting party workers in the state. This is no Swaraj," said Sunil Mahato.

Amanullah Aman is an IIT-Kharagpur graduate who says he left a life of luxury to serve the people. "After leaving the corporate world, I have been working for the people since 2007, but never got to fight an election. I have been involved in several election campaigns. The AAP has given me a chance, I will do my best. It is a democratic country and anybody is free to contest against me," he said. Incidentally, JVM(P)'s Ranchi candidate Amitabh Choudhary is also an IIT-Kharagpur alumnus.

Its Convenor arrested in 1992 case, TMC says govt witch-hunt

Bokaro, March 22

TMC's state convenor Dilip Chatterjee was on Saturday arrested in Dhanbad and remanded to judicial custody in a 22-year-old case, with his party accusing the JMM government of a political witch-hunt.

Chatterjee was sent to 14-days' judicial custody for a 1992 attack on the convoy of then-Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad. Nine policemen were injured in the attack, carried out with bows and arrows, election symbol of the JMM. A Dhanbad court had issued an arrest warrant against him on Thursday.

"The Hemant Soren government is scared. It is trying to protect the murderer Jagarnath Mahto, but is sending people to jail in old cases," said TMC leader Chandra Shekhar "Dadai" Dubey, referring to JMM's Giridih candidate, named in a murder FIR.

Ironically, the case is from a period when Chatterjee was a member of the JMM. He rose to occupy the position of general secretary before leaving over differences with the coterie around Shibu Soren.

Since taking over the TMC's activities in the state, he has overseen exponential growth, often at the cost of the JMM. The party has two legislators now - Dadai Dubey, who switched over from the Congress, has since resigned his state Assembly membership.

MLA's kangaroo court could have caused murder

Chandrapura, March 22

Relatives of Santosh Pandey alleged that Dumri MLA and JMM man Jagarnath Mahto's unchecked habit of holding extralegal Jan Adalats resulted in the death of the youngster in Bokaro district on Thursday morning.

Jagarnath, now the JMM's candidate from Giridih Lok Sabha constituency, and elder brother Baidyanath Mahto are among nine named in the FIR on the murder of Santosh (25), filed on the basis of a complaint by the victim's brother.

Santosh's family alleges that Jagarnath, who hails from the same village as theirs, ordered the youngster's execution in a Jan Adalat held in front of his house. They also allege that Santosh was taken to the D.V.C. Hospital in Chandrapura in the MLA's car, with one of the legislator's bodyguards travelling along.

The police, which reached the hospital shortly after Santosh was admitted, failed to record a dying declaration despite the fact that Santosh was at the hospital for more than an hour and talked to the reporter of a television news channel before succumbing to suspected internal injuries.

Baidyanath was one of the five people named by Santosh in a statement given to the Bermo reporter of regional Hindi channel Kashish News minutes before he breathed his last. However, Santosh did not name Jagarnath when asked to name those who assaulted him. The district police, which arrested two of the girl's relatives on Friday, has moved to obtain the channel's footage.

Santosh, an Arts graduate, was beaten to death for eloping with a girl from Simratoli, a hamlet of his village, Alargo. "I fell in love with a girl whom I was taking tuitions for. When I got a job in Chennai, she said she wanted to come with me. I refused, but she insisted. If she were here, she would explain it to you," said Santosh in his statement to the news channel.

Both Santosh and the girl - rumoured to be a minor - are brahmins, but belong to different castes. Jagarnath is a Kurmi, the dominant caste. "He sided with the girl's family because they live in the same hamlet," said Anant Lal Pandey, fifth of nine siblings of whom Santosh was youngest, who filed the police complaint naming Jagarnath.

Anant Lal alleges that his brother and the girl were taken forcibly by the girl's family from Chennai. They had eloped on on March 12, with the girl's family noticing her disappearance the next day.

"When someone informed me that my son had been picked up by the girl's family, I rushed to the mukhiya, pleaded with him to ensure that my son is safe," said Santosh's mother Jayanti Devi.

Her fears were not unfounded. This newspaper has reported on Jagarnath's Adalats, where he has ordered that errant husbands be tied to to trees and has caned alleged molestors of local women. The police are yet to file an FIR against him based on these Adalats as the legislator's victims do not come forward to register complaints.

Whether the legislator was home at the time when Santosh was assaulted is a matter of dispute - there are three versions in circulation - but it is clear that his assaulters took moral authority from the violent nature of the Adalats.

"This Adalat happened at the site in front of the legislator's house where they are held, but much before the time when these meetings are usual time - which is at about nine in the morning. So, there were only a handful of people present when Baidyanath Mahto presided over the meeting and declared that Santosh be beaten to death. Later, when the beatings continued, the legislator ran out of his house and ordered that the boy be rushed to the hospital," said a villager at the cremation site on the banks of the river Damodar.

Anant Lal disagreed. "Baidyanath is nothing without his brother. Jagarnath was there; he ordered that my brother be killed," he claimed.

Bhubaneshwar Mahto, mukhiya of Alargo, claimed that the legislator was not even home at the time of the assault. "He was in Bokaro, collecting his nomination papers. This is a conspiracy hatched by this opponents to defame him; to try and weaken his winning position this election," he said.

Jagarnath Mahto, talking over phone, said he was not in the village on the morning of Santosh's assault. "I was not at home; I was not even aware of any Jan Adalat. I can't speak for my brother. If he is guilty, he should be sent to jail," he said.

No more arrests were made in the case on Saturday. Bokaro's Superintendent of Police Jitendra Singh said the post-mortem report is awaited.

Jamshedpur becomes proxy battle between Hemant, Munda

Ranchi, March 19

On Wednesday evening, the fight for Jamshedpur Lok Sabha seat became linked to the future of the state government as a JMM MLA is set to join the BJP in Delhi.

Vidyut Baran Mahto will be the fifth legislator from the ruling JMM-Congress-RJD-Others coalition to join a party that is not part of the UPA. Three legislators, including one from the Congress, have left to join the TMC; two from the JMM have gone over to the BJP.

First-time MLA Mahto, JMM representative from Bahragodda, has been brought in by Arjun Munda and will likely contest from Jamshedpur. Former chief minister Munda, who represented Jamshedpur in the 15th Lok Sabha before resigning to become CM for a third time, has declined to contest despite appeals from state as well as Delhi-based BJP leaders.

Munda has not stated his reasons for not contesting. However, even BJP leaders admit that he is driven by the desire to bring down the Hemant Soren government and later - maybe after the assembly elections scheduled for early 2015 - be CM himself. Hemant had come to power by pulling the plug on a BJP-JMM alliance that was being led by Munda.

"Yes, Mahto has come over to the BJP. Whether he will be given a seat or not will be decided by the party. I am not interested in contesting; I have informed the party about it. The Hemant Soren government has lost the required numbers with this," claimed Munda, talking on the phone from Delhi. Babulal Marandi met the Governor on Wednesday, pointing out that the government do not have the numbers anymore.

A number of BJP leaders - Saryu Rai and Raghubar Das among them - opposed the induction of Mahto, but by Wednesday evening, they seemed to have fallen in line with Raghubar Das stating that he would obey whatever the central leadership wants. "I wanted Munda himself to contest from here. If he did not want to, we have enough people in our ranks to take over. It was not wise to borrow someone from another party. However, it looks like the seat will go to Mahto now," said Rai.

The Hemant government had passed a floor test on a 43-37 score, with one MLA absent and the Speaker - a BJP man - not casting his vote. Since, the JMM's Shashank Shekhar Bhokta has taken over as Speaker.

Choosing a candidate for the Jamshedpur seat itself has been a difficult task for most parties - the JMM declared a candidate only on Wednesday, when the election notification for the constituency was issued. After Savita Mahato, widow of former deputy CM Sudhir Mahato, refused JMM's offer of a ticket, the party chose Niroop Mohanty, a former Tata Steel Vice President. The AJSU Party as well as the TMC are yet to declare candidates and are waiting for disgruntled leaders to join them.

One reason for the apprehensiveness of the BJP and JMM has been the good performance of JVM(P)'s Ajoy Kumar, the incumbent MP who has been re-nominated by his party. "Ajoy Kumar has a honest image. He has kept in touch with the electorate. Mahto, on the other hand, has been linked to both the 2010 as well as 2012 Rajya Sabha polls horse trading cases. We are hoping that he will benefit from the Modi wave," said a senior BJP leader on the condition of anonymity.

Ajoy Kumar, on the other hand, alleged that Arjun Munda was targeting his party. "He is eyeing the elections to the assembly. Arjun Munda fears that the JVM will take up the space which will be vacated by the JMM, which is imploding. He is not looking for a win from Jamshedpur; he merely wants to bring someone over from the JMM and topple the government," he said.

Millions of seasonal migrants to miss out on voting

Ranchi, March 16
This, edited, was published here.

Anywhere between 7.5-50 million seasonal migrants across the country could miss out on voting this Lok Sabha election as it falls during the time a majority of people travel for manual labour.

Holding the election at a time outside the kharif crop means that a number equal to or more than the total electorate of Jharkhand – which has 19.95 million registered voters – may not be able to vote this election. India has a total of 814.5 million voters.

The figures were arrived at taking into consideration the 64th round of the National Sample Survey - which says that there 15 million short-term migrants, a 2009 UNDP paper which estimates there are 100 circular migrants and a 2011 survey by five NGOs that found only 48 per cent of its respondents had voted in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections.

The Election Commission, which took into consideration factors like board exams, rains and security risks while coming up with a window for elections did not factor in these people, who, according to the UNDP study by Priya Deshingkar and Shaheen Akter, contribute 10 per cent to the national GDP.

In areas where agriculture is dependent on the kharif crop, people leave their villages in October in search of work and return in time for rains, mostly by June. “These are the people who migrate to quarries, for construction work and so on. These people invariable do not have an election card or any similar documents [in their destination]. What we have seen is that a number of them travel short distances to vote in panchayat elections… But in Parliament elections, this local interest is less, so most of them do not come back to vote,” said Ravi Srivastava of the JNU’s Centre for the Study of Regional Development.

This observation is validated by a micro study done by the Rajasthan-based Aajeevika Bureau in cooperation with four other NGOs across 15 sites in five states with 686 people as respondents. “Data gathered on the question, “Did you vote in the last election?” revealed that 65 per cent of the respondents had voted in the last Panchayat elections. Compared to this, participation in Lok Sabha elections was 48 per cent…. There was a significant drop in participation rates from Panchayat to Lok Sabha elections. We find that as one moves from Panchayat to Vidhan Sabha to Lok Sabha elections, the participation rate comes down by 10.5 per cent at each step,” notes the report, titled Political Inclusion of Seasonal Migrant Workers in India.

Therefore, that this is a Lok Sabha election will only exacerbate the situation. The study goes on to note that, “The difference became more pronounced, rising to 14 per cent, when short distance movements were taken off the sample. In case of long distance movement, participation in election ranges from 59 per cent in case of Panchayat election to 31 per cent in Lok Sabha elections.” The report also notes that 54 per cent of its respondents returned home specifically to vote but 74 per cent of them did so for panchayat elections.

In a state like Jharkhand, from where migrants travel to faraway states like Punjab and Gujarat, the number of people returning to vote this April will be very less. “In places like West Bengal and Kerala, cadre-based political parties target people who have moved out and give them incentives to return to vote. However, there has been no such efforts in Jharkhand,” said Gopi Nath Ghosh of the state-based NGO JOHAR.

In terms of timing, this is a perfect storm. “As far as migration is concerned, this is probably the worst time to have elections. In our state for instance, lakhs of migrants have moved away from Southern Rajasthan along a corridor that leads to Surat and Ahmedabad,” said Santosh Poonia, one of the co-authors of the Aajeevika report.

These are people who are interested in taking part in the electoral process: 78 per cent of seasonal migrants polled by the Aajeevika study had Voter Identity Cared. It is not as if the people who conduct elections are unaware of this situation. “Technically, these migrants can register to vote in the places they go to. But I don’t think they do. What is the solution? I can’t think of any in the current circumstances,” said P.K. Jajoria, Chief Electoral Officer, Jharkhand.

The huge range – 15 to 100 million – in data about seasonal migration is because the National Sample Survey figures are a, “gross underestimate because the data do not properly count part-time occupations and short term migrations,” according to the UNDP study. For example, the NSS defines short-term migrants as, “those who had stayed away from the village/town for a period of 1 month or more but less than 6 months during the last 365 days for employment or in search of employment.” This excludes a bulk of seasonal migrants from one-crop Jharkhand, as people move out in October-November and return in June the next year.

(While researching for this story, I came across a piece by P. Sainath - the only other news report that looked at a national perspective. The realisation that he had looked into a topic that I had stumbled upon was probably one of the most proudest moments of my journalism career.)

Dumka: Babulal throws down the gauntlet against Guruji

Ranchi, March 14

The stage is set for a heavyweight fight in the Dumka Lok Sabha constituency, with former chief minister Shibu Soren and Babulal Marandi being nominated by their respective parties for the seat.

The JVM(P) on Thursday nominated its leader Marandi; Soren had been declared as the JMM candidate on March 11. They will return to the site of their respective electoral debuts to contest against each other for the fourth time, with the scoreboard currently reading 2-1 in favour of the JMM man.

Both have a history with the Scheduled Tribe-reserved constituency - Soren is the outgoing MP, having contested 10 times, winning seven duels. Marandi, ougoing MP from Koderma, contested from Dumka four times, winning twice.

In fact, Marandi debuted his electoral life against Soren in 1991, losing spectacularly by 1.3 lakh votes. In 1996, he bettered it but still lost by 6000. It was third time lucky for Marandi in 1998, when he won against Soren, sending the latter to the Rajya Sabha. In 1999, Soren fielded his wife Roopi from Dumka as he did not want to relinquish his RS seat. Roopi lost to Marandi, dealing a major personal blow to the Sorens.

Soren began his electoral career in 1977 in Dumka with a loss. He won in 1980 but lost again in '84. He won in '89, '91 and '96 before his '98 loss to Marandi. He returned from the Rajya Sabha to win in 2002 and has completed a hat trick, winning in '04 and '09.

Both of them are not from Dumka - Soren hails from Ramgarh while Marandi is from Giridin. The reason they reached Dumka - sub-capital of Jharkhand and nerve center of the Santhal Pargana, home of the Santhals - is because their work took them there. Both have since moved away from that original cause - Soren fought against the money lenders of the region, while the RSS sent Marandi there.

That Soren would have a tough fight on his hands this time was a foregone conclusion - the weakening cadre strength of the JMM in its stronghold and the poor performance of the Hemant Soren government being two reasons. Then, Soren's younger brother Lalu Soren went over to the TMC.

Marandi had earlier indicated that he would prefer not to contest and said that he would tour all 14 constituencies to campaign for his candidates. For him, this is a battle to send out a message: he has withstood all attempts at forming electoral alliances, forging a rebel identity for the JVM(P). He leaves Koderma, an unreserved seat from where he won thrice in a row. "There is no risk involved. Babulalji won there in 1998 and 1999 when Shibu Soren's popularity was at its peak. Now, Soren is a shadow of his self. Babulalji has been travelling in Dumka and saw that the party workers really wanted him to contest from there. Hence, the change in decision," said Rajender Tiwari, one of Marandi's closest aides.

It is too early to write off the 70-year-old Soren. After all, he won in 2009 despite being ill and holding only one public meeting. He had filed his nomination after being flown in in an air ambulance.

Ranchi: Local issues, not coal, to work against Subodh

Ranchi, March 13

Former Union Minister Subodh Kant Sahay, removed from the cabinet after his name cropped up in the coal block allocation scam, breathed a sigh of relief after the Congress on Thursday granted him a chance to complete a hat trick from Ranchi.

"I am happy that the Congress High Command had decided to let me contest. I am also indebted to the people who have supported me of late," said Sahay to news channels.

He was referring to the support Ranchi-based Congress leaders, various organisations and even the media had extended to him since the day he did not feature in the first list of candidates released by the Congress. The party had left Ranchi for later and reportedly even considered a celebrity - Mohd. Azharuddin's and Nagma's names did the rounds - for the seat.

Sahay immediately rushed to Delhi along with supporters and lobbied intensely for the seat. While he was always guaranteed a tough fight this time, the uncertainty and the outpouring of support that followed was unexpected. Mostly because the perception has been that Sahay, Congress' lone MP from Jharkand in the 15th Lok Sabha, did not do enough for the state and constituency this tenure.

His involvement in the coal scam was in relation to brother Sudhir Kant Sahay, who was allegedly involved with SKS Ispat and Power - the company on behalf of which Sahay wrote a recommendation letter to PM Manmohan Singh. Within 24 hours of receiving the letter, the company was in line to receive a coal block.

With the coal scam not getting the importance it should be in Jharkhand, the history of his brother Sunil Kumar Sahay's is likely to be an issue his opposition will use against Sahay. The then-minister had successfully lobbied for Sunil to be made candidate from Ranchi's Hatia in a 2012 assembly bypoll. Even though the poll was necessitated by the death of a Congress legislator, Sunil lost, unable to even recover his security deposit.

Another topic that his opponents are likely to use against Sahay is the seizure of money - allegedly intended for distribution among voters - from a Ranchi hotel ahead of the municipal corporation polls in April last year. Former Mayor Rama Khalkho, who had joined the Congress before the elections, was arrested and sent to jail. No charges have been brought against Subodh, who brought Khalkho into the Congress and who was present with her at the hotel minutes before a police party raided the place.

Marandi says death threat; Maoist document concurs

Ranchi, New Delhi/ March 13

Former chief Babulal Marandi on Thursday said in Dumka that his political rivals are out to kill him and claimed, without naming anyone, that a supari has been given in his name.

Marandi was talking about a clear and present danger - a March 12 Indian Express report had said that 12 political leaders of the region have been targeted by Maoists this election. Quoting from a document prepared on instructions from the Central Committee of the CPI-Maoist and seized from Bihar's Munger on February 3, the report went on to say that Marandi's Jharkhand Vikas Morcha is one of the targets.

"I am not taking names, but a political leader here has given supari to kill me," Babulal told a press conference. "The entire state has Naxal presence.... I don't have sufficient security cover," he added. His son Anup was gunned down by alleged Maoists in October 2007.

The Maoist document talks of the 12 leaders to be targeted two-syllable, coded terms. However, there are two that are interesting in the context of Marandi's claims on Thursday - the second and third names on the list are "Babu" and "Nunu." Marandi has a son named Nunu. In fact, after the attack on his brother at an event in which he was also present, Nunu had told the Indian Express that the Maoists had come asking for him.

The document talks of two strategies for the general elections. The first is the political, whose main instrument is the boycott of the whole process. The second is the military strategy. "The BJP, Congress and JVM should be targeted militarily," goes the document. "The campaign vehicles of these parties should be put on fire. Selected politicians should be targeted and even the campaign vehicles of alliance parties should be targeted," it adds.

However, the document insists that there should be no attack on civilians on voting day.

JVM's general secretary Pradeep Yadav said that other parties were jealous of Marandi's steady rise. "Our party has been going from strength to strength and people are jealous of that. When our leader said that he was being targeted by politicians, he also meant to point out that even if the Maoists are targeting him, it is because some politicians are behind them," he said.

Jharkhand DGP Rajeev Kumar said that the Ministry of Home Affairs, which is in possession of the document, has not yet shared it with the state police. "Let mister Marandi give us a complaint about his insecurity, we will look into that," he said.

In Dhanbad, vote and be a star

Ranchi, March 13

The Dhanbad district administration is set to launch a Facebook page to which voters can upload the photos of their inked finger to claim prizes.

This was one of several decisions announced on Wednesday after Deputy Commissioner Prashant Kumar had a meeting on the Election Commission's Systematic Voters' Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) programme.

The coal-based industries of the area - SAIL, Tata Steel, Maithon Power Limited, BCCL, etc - considered "partners" under the SVEEP, have told the DC that they would do their bit to boost voter participation. "They told me they would consider doing things like giving a 10 per cent discount in their canteens to those who show their inked finger on election day," said Kumar. Considering that the polling day is a declared holiday, that offer would have to be give the next day.

These are apart from the routine assistance expected of partners under SVEEP, like printing and posting banners and stickers in their workplaces. "We will be coming up with a 21-point Action Plan soon. The idea is to have something or the other happening on each day after March 19. Banks have already promised to print posters, which will be stuck at ATMs," said Ranchi DC Vinay Kumar Choubey.

The Dhanbad district administration however, is going the extra mile. DC Kumar said that the entry fee to parks in the district could be slashed by up to 50 per cent on April 24, when Dhanbad votes.

"Through the Proud Voter Photo Contest, anyone who has voted can send upload a photo of their inked left index finger. Based on their creativity, the best three will be selected by an independent jury. The winner will be the proud voter icon of Dhanbad. Apart from an appreciation letter and reward, the winner will be featured in our billboards," said Dhanbad DC Kumar. "Young voters think the electoral process is a drab idea. We want to tell them that voting can be cool, that it can be a style statement," he added.

Pre-poll Ops: Forces injure themselves with no Maoist in sight

Ranchi, March 13

Six Jharkhand security personnel - including an Additional SP - managed to injure themselves in two separate incidents on Thursday, two days after 15 of their Chhattisgarh counterparts were killed in a CPI-Maoist ambush.

At least two CRPF personnel were injured in an alleged cross-firing incident in Latehar district in the morning, while four were airlifted to a Ranchi hospital from Chatra district in the afternoon when an CPI-Maoist IED they were trying to defuse went off.

First reports indicate that the Chatra incident was the result of a major lapse in terms of following Standard Operating Procedures, with the Additional SP attempting to defuse the IED even as the bomb squad was on its way.

With elections on the horizon, both the police as well as LWE organisations in the state have stepped up activities. Thursday’s setback to the police comes after a series of quality arrests of CPI-Maoist and PLFI commanders in Palamu and Khunti districts through the week.

Additional SP (Ops) R.S. Mishra, constables Kamra Vikram and Satbir Singh of the CRPF's 134th Battalion and ASI Manoj Toppo of the state police were injured when trying to defuse an IED in Chatra. "This happened within Pratappur Police Station, bordering Palamu. They had gone to defuse the IED placed near a bridge after obtaining specific intelligence input," said Prashant Kumar Karn, Chatra SP.

Mishra, on deputation from the CRPF, has reportedly damaged a leg and is critical. All four have been airlifted to Ranchi's Apollo Hospital.

A senior police officer said that the Chatra incident could have been avoided. "The Additional SP used to be an instructor on IEDs with the CRPF. He was confident that he could defuse it on his own and decided not to wait for the arrival of the Bomb Disposal and Detection Squad, which had started from its base in Hazaribagh district," said the officer on condition of anonymity.

The source said that officer Sharma had tried to defuse by using a rope, whereby the circuits are pulled out by tying a rope to them and then pulling from a safe distance. "Sharma underestimated the radius of the blast, which is why all the injured have been hit under the knee. The SOP for a situation like this is simple - isolate the area and wait for the BDDS to arrive, however late that may be. Even if it takes a day," said the officer.

In Latehar, Deputy Commandant Vivek Ojha and Sub Inspector Ashok Kumar Singh of the 214th Battalion suffered bullet injuries when two teams involved in a combing operation came up against each other in Garu Police Station limits at around 9.30 in the morning. Their condition is stable after admission to Apollo Hospital.

"Our information is that there was a confusion between two parties and that it did not involve the Maoists. It was an accidental firing between two police parties," said Latehar SP Michael Raj.

The state's DGP refused to concede that it was a case of friendly fire. "There are doubts, but we should have an inquiry first," said DGP Rajeev Kumar.

The last major case of cross-fire in Jharkhand was in Khunti district in July, 2012 when two CRPF personnel were killed and five injured. A DIG-level inquiry had been ordered into the incident, but its findings remain unknown.

Another JMM MLA leaves; govt on brink

Ranchi, March 12
This was published here: http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/soren-govt-in-trouble-as-another-mla-leaves-jmm/

The Hemant Soren government is on the brink as another MLA left the ruling coalition on Wednesday, with JMM's Hemlal Mumu joining the BJP in Delhi.

Murmu became the fifth legislator to leave the ruling coalition and join a party that is not in the JMM-Congress-RJD-Others alliance. On July 18 last year, the Hemant Soren government had passed its floor test with the support of 43 legislators, with 37 voting against.

Since, BJP's C.P. Singh, who presided over the House of 82 that day, has ceased to be Speaker and JMM man Shashank Shekhar Bhokta has taken over. However, it is not a straight transfer of seats to the Opposition, as the anti-defection law is likely to apply in the case of Chandra Shekhar "Dadai" Dubey, who moved from the Congress to the TMC, and Murmu.

The keys to the government, then, are with two TMC legislators. Bandhu Tirkey and Chamra Linda, escaped the anti-defection law by merging their single-legislator parties into the TMC. Tirkey, in particular, is crucial to CM Soren as he was the legislator who had worked behind the scenes to bring together six other Independent legislators to vote for the government.

TMC's general secretary Mukul Roy had said in the past that his party would support Hemant's government for now, adding that the decision would be up for review post-Lok Sabha elections. However, that position seems to have undergone a change since "Dadai" Dubey joined the party since leaving the Congress after being denied the Dhanbad ticket. Dubey, who was fired from the Hemant cabinet after levelling corruption allegations against the CM, said that Hemant should resign. "I cannot tell you for sure where the TMC would go if there is a floor test tomorrow. However, the Hemant government should resign. It has lost numbers. Hemlal Murmu has left the JMM and he has taken MLAs away with him," he claimed.

There was to be more trouble for the JMM on Wednesday after MLA Simon Marandi, who has represented Rajmahal thrice in the Lok Sabha, expressed his disappointment with Hemant after being denied a ticket for his son. Marandi wanted his son to contest from Rajmahal but the party did not entertain him. "Hemant Soren is not running the government; his political advisor Himanshu Shekhar is," said Marandi in Ranchi.

That the government may not survive beyond the Lok Sabha polls was a known fact. At the time of the declaration of its alliance with the JMM, the Congress had said that the coming together was intended for the Lok Sabha elections. The Jharkhand government's fate then, is intrinsically linked to the results of the general election. With the state scheduled to go to polls early in 2015, there may not be time for another government to take over in case this experiment fails.

Murmu is likely to contest from the Rajmahal constituency on a BJP ticket. He had represented Rajmahal in the 14th Lok Sabha and was miffed after JMM recruited Vijay Hansda from the Youth Congress to contest from the seat.

Murmu was the second JMM legislator to join another party on Wednesday - Kameshwar Baitha, the party's MP from Palamu, joined the TMC at Mamata Banerjee's Delhi rally. Baitha had expressed a desire to join the BJP, which was hesitant to have the former Maoist, who with 46 had the most criminal cases against an MP in the 15th Lok Sabha, in its ranks.

FIR, allegation against JVM's Choudhary

Ranchi, March 11
This was published here: http://indianexpress.com/article/india/politics/jvmps-ls-candidate-amitabh-choudhary-yet-to-vacate-house-claims-no-political-ativities-happen/

JVM(P)'s Ranchi Lok Sabha candidate Amitabh Choudhary had a tough time on Tuesday, with local media reporting that he has been running his election campaign from his official residence, which he is yet to vacate.

In addition to that, an FIR was lodged against him at the Angara police station in the outskirts of Ranchi city for allegedly holding a campaign meeting.

Choudhary, a former Additional Director General of Police who is also the current president of the Jharkhand State Cricket Association, is yet to vacate his official residence despite applying for retirement last year. On Tuesday, a Hindi news channel showed a group of people outside Choudhary's residence and claimed that they were preparing for his campaign.

Choudhary admitted that he has not vacated the house but claimed no political activity happens within. "I have asked for, and received, permission from the government to let me stay at the house till April 30. No campaign-related activity goes on inside, though," he said.

He also claimed that Angara meeting was not a campaign effort. "I was merely meeting people who have lost their jobs. I was trying to understand the problems of the unemployed," he said.

Rajeev Kumar, a lawyer in the Jharkhand High Court, said that the government has not responded to multiple RTI applications regarding Choudhary's residence. "An individual named Sudhir Oraon had filed many applications, but the relevant department is yet to provide an answer," he said.

Jharkhand's Chief Electoral Officer P.K. Jajoria said that no complaint has been registered regarding Choudhary's official residence yet. "I have asked the channel for a copy of their video report, but it has not yet been provided. I have been appraised about the FIR in Angara, though," he said.

Koda Nemesis Joins BSP

Ranchi, March 10
This was published here: http://indianexpress.com/article/india/politics/oraon-joins-bsp-to-contest-from-ranchi-ls-seat/

Durga Oraon, whose Public Interest Litigation was the reason the Jharkhand High Court initiated action against former chief minister Madhu Koda in 2008, joined the BSP on Monday and will contest from the Ranchi Lok Sabha seat.

He joined in the presence of Brijlal Khabri, the party's Jharkhand incharge.

Oraon (40), the chairperson of the Jharkhand Against Corruption movement, had been approached by the Aam Aadmi Party. The AAP saw him as an ideal candidate to lead the party in Jharkhand, but talks went nowhere. "Someone from the AAP had come to meet me at home. After that, no one contacted me. The AAP in Jharkhand is over; there is no enthusiasm anymore," said Oraon.

He was known as Durga Munda before his activism days, had contested the 2013 Ranchi Municipal Corporation's Mayoral elections. Following the seizure of money allegedly intended for distribution among voters, the election was called off despite voting having taken place. A re-poll has not yet taken place.

On Monday, Oraon claimed that Mayawati's outlook on social justice had attracted him. "I have been fighting for justice. What Mayawatiji has done is the same - to get rid of social inequalities that exist around us," he said, adding that the corruption charges against his new leader did not worry him.

Oraon was even given a security detail and took extreme measures to protect his whereabouts in 2008 after he filed the PIL against Koda. The change in surname was made in the PIL to protect himself. That PIL led to a CBI inquiry, and the arrest of Koda and three of his ministers.

Palamu: Outgoing Maoist, Incoming DGP

Ranchi, March 9
This was published here: http://indianexpress.com/article/india/politics/former-dgp-might-contest-against-convicted-mp-in-palamu/

The voters of Palamu Lok Sabha constituency, who sent a Maoist to Parliament in 2009, could end up voting for a former DGP during whose tenure their outgoing MP was in jail.

Kameshwar Baitha of the JMM was in a jail in Bihar jail when election results were declared in 2009, declaring him a winner. Former CPI-Maoist Zonal Commander Baitha's affidavit said that he had 46 criminal cases against him in 2009, making him the MP charged in most cases in the 15th Lok Sabha. He was arrested in 2005 and was released on bail in 2011.

V.D. Ram was Jharkhand's Director General of Police even as Baitha was housed in four jails in Bihar and Jharkhand, and also at Tihar when Parliament sessions were on. Now, after retiring in 2011, Ram wants to contest from Scheduled Caste-reserved Palamu as the BJP's candidate. He was DGP for two terms, one ending in 2006 and the other, in 2010.

The BJP has emerged as the early leader in Palamu and Ram could win if he secures the party ticket. He joined the party in April 2013 and has been touring the constituency since. "I have met all 41 mandal presidents here, visited 150 villages," said Ram. He refused to evaluate Baitha's tenure. "It is for the people to judge how good an MP he was. However, all I can say is that he has lost all popularity in Palamu," he said.

Baitha has left the JMM after the party offered the seat to the Congress - and it, in turn to the RJD - according to the United Progressive Alliance's seat-sharing arrangement. Former Palamu MP Manoj Kumar, expelled in the 2005 cash-for-questions scam, has been re-nominated by the party for the seat.

The JMM had indicated to Baitha - who contested unsuccessfully in the 2007 Palamu by-poll as a BSP candidate - that it did not want him around anymore. So, he has tried going over to the BJP. On March 6, he claimed that he had joined the party after talking to former CM Arjun Munda. However, it turns out, the BJP is hesitant. "He has submitted a letter requesting membership. The party is yet to consider it," said BJP spokesperson Sanjay Seth.

The BJP faces a problem of plenty in Palamu. Apart from Ram and Baitha, former IAS officer Mukhtiar Singh and three-time-MP Braj Mohan Ram also want to contest. Ram is camping in Delhi, trying to persuade his party's central leadership. "I am confident of winning if given a chance. I was MP three consecutive terms before losing to Manoj Kumar. In 2009, I did not even get an opportunity to contest as Palamu went to the JMM in the seat-sharing arrangement," said Ram.

Former DGP Ram too, does not have a spotless record. He was removed from his position during the second tenure after allegations of an inappropriate withdrawal of Rs. 5.6 crore from the Secret Service Fund.

If Baitha's history is any evidence, he might contest even as an Independent this time if BJP denies him a ticket. In that case, the former Maoist and the policeman will slug it out in Palamu.

Dubey goes to TMC; Congress makes Sahay wait

Ranchi, March 9

Former minister in the Hemant Soren cabinet and Congress legislator from Vishrampur Chandra Shekhar "Dadai" Dubey joined the Trinamool Congress in Kolkata on Sunday after being denied the Dhanbad seat.

Dubey's name did not figure in the list of six candidates released by the Congress on Saturday and he promptly went over to the TMC, which offered him the Dhanbad ticket.

It was another coup for the TMC, which has been going about acquiring disgruntled leaders all over the state. Dubey is the party's third legislator; TMC is yet to have even a state unit. However, sources close to him said he would soon resign as a legislator as the anti-defection law would apply.

There were more surprises from the Congress when it came to distribution of candidatures - the decision on the Ranchi seat has been delayed while the Pradesh Congress President would not contest. The INC, scheduled to contest from eight constituencies, announced only six seats in its first list.

Subodh Kant Sahay, the Ranchi legislator and lone MP of the party from Jharkhand, did not find a place in the list on Saturday. "We are all quite surprised that the party was not decisive and seems to be hesitating on declaring his candidature," said a senior leader who did not want to be quoted. There is a perception that Sahay, a former Union minister, did not perform well this tenure but most party leaders assumed that he would be retained. Regional news channels reported that an individual from outside the state could be the party's nominee this time. A delegation of Sahay's supporters returned from Delhi on Sunday after lobbying for their leader.

Also missing from the Congress list was PCC president Sukhdeo Bhagat, widely tipped to be the party's candidate from Lohardaga. "The highcommand has decided that the party presidents of Jharkhand and Bihar should concentrate on campaigning," said Shailendra Sinha, PCC spokesperson. Lohardaga has been entrusted with Rameshwar Oraon, Chairperson of the National Commission of Scheduled Tribes, who won from the constituency in 2004 but lost in 2009.

Meanwhile, Savita Mahato, widow of former deputy CM Sudhir Mahato has excused herself from being the JMM's Jamshedpur candidate. She cited personal reasons. Recently-widowed, Mahato was initally the JMM nominee for the Rajya Sabha elections this year before the party withdrew her candidature.

AJSU leader gunned down; LWE organisation suspected

Ranchi, March 8

The AJSU Party has called for a statewide bandh on Sunday after its Chatra Lok Sabha constituency incharge Tileshwar Sahu was shot dead by two suspected members of the left wing extremist outfit PLFI in Hazaribagh district on Saturday afternoon.

Police are looking into whether the murder is linked to the death of Sahu's father Gajendra, allegedly killed by members of an LWE organisation in April 2008.

Police are monitoring Hazaribagh, where the murder took place and Gumla, where Sahu mostly lived. "Law and order remains under control. It is too early to consider imposing Section 144, etc. People have blocked the road as of now," said DGP Rajeev Kumar.

Sahu, whom party sources say was likely to be declared AJSU's candidate either from the Chatra seat this time or Barhi assembly constituency in the elections scheduled in 2015, was shot twice in Hazaribagh's Barhi by two men on a bike on his way home from a meeting to mark International Women's Day, where he was chief guest.

An, individual named Suraj Kumar who hails from Gumla district, where Sahu too is from, was chased and captured by AJSU workers and policemen. He been arrested and a pistol was recovered. "He has confessed to the murder. There was another youngster with him. We think he is from the PLFI," said Hazaribagh SP Manoj Kaushik. However, police are yet to believe Suraj's claims as his statements have been inconsistent.

The PLFI and Sahu have a history. In December 2013, a timer-fitted bomb was recovered in Simdega from a petrol pump owned by Sahu. "We later confirmed that it was a PLFI device. The same brand of timers were recovered when we raided a gun factory that the organisation used to operate," said Simdega SP Asim V. Minj.

Sahu, former chairperson of the state's Pollution Control Board, had in January complained to the Ranchi police that an LWE organisation had demanded an AK-47 and a carbine from him.

His father was gunned down in April 2008 within Kamdara police station of Gumla district. An FIR registered on the basis of a complaint by Sahu's mother had claimed then that then-minister Enos Ekka was behind the murder. "Ekka was later cleared, while six others mentioned in the FIR have been charge sheeted. They were all criminals; no single organisation was responsible," said Gumla SP Bhimsen Tuti.

Sahu, a prominent leader of the OBC Teli caste, was widely perceived as the rock on which Ekka built his empire in Simdega district's Kolebira. They had a falling out later, after which Ekka was instrumental in the arrest of Sahu in a case relating to the murder of six people in Simdega. They were killed by Shanti Sena in 2006, created by Sahu and claiming to an anti-Maoist force.

JMM gains one but loses two in three days

Ranchi, March 7

With senior leader Hemlal Murmu from the party resigning on Friday, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha has gained a Youth Congress member but lost a sitting MP and MLA over the last three days.

The JMM inducted Vijay Hansda, son of late Congress leader Thomas Hansda on Wednesday with the intention of giving him the ticket for Rajmahal Lok Sabha seat, won twice by his father. The Congress protested, with Pradesh President Sukhdeo Bhagat meeting chief minister Hemant Soren the same day.

Worse was to come, with JMM's Barhait MLA Hemlal Murmu - who won from Rajmahal in 2004 - resigning from the party on Friday. He is reportedly in talks with the BJP. "I have not decided yet as to whether I should contest or which party to join. I will be talking to my supporters in the next few days to decide my future," he said over phone. Murmu, a minister in the 2010-'13 Arjun Munda cabinet, has been unhappy ever since CM Soren refused to induct him in his council of ministers.

On Thursday, outgoing Palamu MP Kameshwar Baitha left the JMM to join the BJP. Baitha, a former Maoist who had the most number of cases in the 15th Lok Sabha, tried to claim that he had left on his own despite the JMM sending out unambiguous signals that it did not want him around anymore. "I have come to the BJP after serious thought. There is a wave in favour of the party and I want to work for it and Narendra Modi. This is not for a seat; I will be here even if they do not give me one," he said.

The BJP is likely to field former state DGP V.D. Ram from SC-reserved Palamu. The JMM will not contest from the constituency this time, with the seat going over to the Congress - or even the RJD - according to the UPA's seat-sharing arrangement.

TMC wants Jharkhand

Ranchi, March 7
This was published here: http://indianexpress.com/article/india/politics/in-jharkhand-trinamool-pushes-for-space-dents-jmm/99/

In its quest to emerge as the largest regional party in the 16th Lok Sabha, the All India Trinamool Congress is making an aggressive push into Jharkhand.

Even before the formation of its state unit, the party has managed to capture its first legislators here, convincing two single-MLA-parties to merge with it. This, on top of getting Shibu Soren's younger brother and JMM's Bokaro district president Lalu Soren on board.

After Bandhu Tirkey and Chamra Linda - since declared the party's candidates for Ranchi and Lohardaga respectively - it is as if the floodgates opened. The name of almost every leader likely to be ignored by their respective parties in ticket distribution have been associated with the TMC - Chandra Shekhar "Dadai" Dubey and Stephen Marandi of the Congress, and Paulus Surin of the JMM among them.

Some of these individuals are likely to stay with their parties, but the TMC does not deny it has been talking them. So much so, political parties across the state are waiting with pregnant indignation for the second candidates' list of the TMC, expected on Sunday.

All this, from a party that was widely derided for a poorly-attended rally in Ranchi on January 11. The party's Rajya Sabha MP K.D. Singh, who has since resigned from his Jharkhand seat, was the main organiser. That day also marked his first official event in Jharkhand since being elected in 2010. Singh, chairman emeritus of the Chandigarh-based Alchemist group, won as a JMM candidate under controversial circumstances before going over to the TMC in a matter of months.

The TMC appointed a state convenor in Dilip Chatterjee on February 18. "The Ranchi rally was not very important. What mattered was a February 8 rally in Dhanbad, which was well attended," said Chatterjee. He also handles the Ranchi district office; TMC now has functioning units in Jamshedpur, Dhanbad and Bokaro districts. "We want to contest all 14 Lok Sabha seats and have finalised names for 5-6 of them. For the state assembly [elections, scheduled for 2015] too, we will have candidates for all seats," added Chatterjee.

Before TMC, Chatterjee was a general secretary of the JMM. "I left when JMM started losing its way. Shibu Soren was increasingly silenced inside the party," was all he was willing to say. A former central committee member of the JMM said that Chatterjee's presence could draw JMM members to the TMC.

The TMC then, could be the first beneficiary of an anti-Hemant Soren feeling that has been building up within the JMM. Older leaders have felt alienated since Hemant's rise began, surrounded by a coterie called the class of 2005 in these pages. These were people who associated themselves with the JMM the year Shibu Soren first became chief minister; the same year when Hemant first contested to the state assembly, and lost.

Apart from the big names, there are early indications that grassroots leaders could move to the JMM. Not merely Bengali-speaking individuals, but also adivasi leaders are moving toward to TMC. "Only this morning did I get a call from an important functionary in the Ramgarh district unit of the JMM, asking for a TMC leader's number," said an individual who handles media relations for a potential Lok Sabha candidate who belongs neither to the JMM nor TMC. Shibu Soren's elder brother Rajaram Soren too, has indicated that he would not mind a move to the TMC.

The JMM comes in the TMC's firing line as the former's stronghold, the Santhal Pargana region, is contiguous with West Bengal. It made its first prominent recruitment in the state there five years back, inducting anti-displacement activist and party's state women's unit convenor Muni Hansda from Dumka. She could be the TMC's candidate from the namesake constituency - currently held by Shibu Soren - but reportedly faces competition from Lalu Soren.

The TMC's strong bid could have an effect in Assam, where the party is trying to gain influence among the tea tribes - originally of Jharkhand, among whom the JMM has supporters.

This scattergun approach to collecting individuals has however resulted in an explosive mix: there is Muni Hansda, who has been a crusader against the mining companies in Dumka and Pakur; Lalu Soren, whose most important quality is that he is Shibu's brother; Bandhu Tirkey, a minister in the Madhu Koda cabinet who faces charges under the Prevention of Corruption Act and Chamra Linda, legally declared an absconder from 2008 to 2013 in an assault case. As if this was not enough, there are reports in the regional media that Geeta Koda, legislator and wife of the former CM, could join the TMC.

The TMC in Jharkhand is hardly an advertisement the party's brand ambassador Anna Hazare would want to be featured in. On the other hand, it is an indicator of the scale of Mamata Banerjee's ambitions.

OPINION: Power, of a different kind

Ranchi, March 6

As many as eight former civil servants are reportedly jostling for Lok Sabha candidatures in Jharkhand, with about six of them standing a realistic chance of contesting from any of the state's 14 constituencies.

The BJP has come away as the officers' club, with six of the eight preferring to join the party. One of them, former IPS officer Amitabh Choudhary, joined the JVM(P) after the party turned him down. Arun Oraon, Inspector General in the Punjab cadre, is set to join the BJP after Congress - the party of his illustrious father, wife and in-laws - said no.

Obviously, these men are betting on a horse that is seemingly winning. That they are willing to switch sides - in one of the most polarised elections of our times - reeks of opportunism.

However, the national parties in the state should take most of the blame. It is a pity that, even in the 14th year since the formation of the state, these parties have not groomed educated, articulate leaders. It is also an insult to the respective constituencies, nutured by grassroots leaders who reside there.

As far as political parties are concerned, it is a win-win situation: most bureaucrats are disinterested in state-level politics, instead aspiring national recognition. Parties therefore gain a presentable face from Jharkhand - Hazaribagh MP Yashwant Sinha, for example - with state-based leaders finding comfort in the fact that their supremacy will not be challenged.

On the other hand, such men are expendable. There will be no cadres protesting when the party moves on to experiment with someone else if they lose. Rameshwar Oraon, the former IPS officer who won in 2004 from Lohardaga but lost in 2009, is not being associated with the seat this time.

All this of course raises serious concerns about the relationship between the politician and the bureaucrat in the state. Also, with many of them privately admitting that they have been contemplating contesting for many years now, one wonders how it affected their official conduct - like being overtly enthusiastic about a project that fell within the constituency of their choice.

The silver lining to this has been the performance of Jamshedpur MP Ajoy Kumar. The former IPS officer and first-time legislator has been one of the better-performing MPs from the state.

Kumar left the IPS while still an SP. Maybe that is the key to being a good politician - leave before the service gets to you. If that is true, this election is cause for hope. The likes of Choudhary and Oraon applied for voluntary retirement with the best part of their careers ahead of them. They seem to think politics was worth the effort. The people will tell them for sure, come May 16.

Civil Servants Leave Jobs for Party Tickets

Ranchi, March 4
This story was published here: http://indianexpress.com/article/india/politics/former-bureaucrats-line-up-for-tickets-in-bihar-jharkhand/

At least six former civil servants are likely to be in the fray for Jharkhand's 14 seats this elections, with almost all of them preferring to be with the BJP.

The competition is so intense that two retired officers, of the IPS and IAS, are competing against each other to be BJP's candidate from the SC-reserved Palamu seat.

The BJP attributes this inflow to its Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi. "There is a Modi wave all over the country. These people, who want to serve the people, are attracted by the work of Modi," said senior BJP leader and legislator Raghubar Das.

Three seem to have guaranteed themselves seats: former Additional Director of Police Amitabh Choudhary who has joined the JVM(P), along with two sitting MPs, BJP's Yashwant Sinha and JVM(P)'s Ajoy Kumar. Sinha, the Hazaribagh MP and former Union Finance Minister, was an a Joint Secretary. Kumar, who resigned after making Superintendent of Police, won the 2011 by-election from Jamshedpur.

Choudhary, also the Jharkhand State Cricket Association president, took voluntary retirement in July last year. After unsuccessfully angling for the BJP's Ranchi ticket, he joined Babulal Marandi's party on February 27. The party is yet to declare its candidates, but Choudhary looks all set to contest. At an interview last week, Choudhary - who had seven years of service left - sought to distinguish himself from most of the others. “There is a distinction between somebody who had an option and has left that option to choose this. The other case is where they did not have an option – they were superannuated, had few months’ service left or there were no chance they would have reached the top of their cadre. These are different cases from where somebody who was already at the top and had a long tenure left. What have you left to come here?” he said.

Former Jharkhand Director General of Police V.D. Ram joined the BJP in April last year after retirement. He wants to contest from the Palamu seat and has been touring the constituency. However, retired IAS officer Mukhtiar Singh, who was chairperson of the Jharkhand Electricity Regulatory Commission post-retirement, has joined the same party and wants the Palamu seat for himself.

Punjab cadre IPS officer Arun Oraon, whose in-laws held the Lohardaga constituency for four tenures between them, is waiting for the BJP's green light to join and officially launch his campaign. Lohardaga is also the constituency of former IPS officer Rameshwar Oraon, who won in 2004 but lost in 2009. "I have requested that my home cadre relieve me by March 10. I know Lohardaga well; apart from the history my in-laws have, I have served there, too," he said. His father Bandi Oraon lost in the constituency in 1996. Bandi Oraon was a two time state legislator from Gumla's Sisai; Arun Oraon's wife and state minister Geetashree Oraon represents the constituency now.

Jharkhand's former energy secretary Vimal Kirti Singh is reportedly intent on joining the BJP. However, his choice of constituency is not clear yet - earlier reports from the bureaucrat's camp indicated his intention of contesting from home state Bihar; of late, it seems that he might go for Dhanbad in Jharkhand.

The Congress on Monday inducted former IAS officer Binod Kispotta into the party on Monday. Kispotta, of the Manipur cadre, retired as an additional secretary in 2012. Congress sources say he is not likely to contest in the general election, though.

Hemant Is A Big Boy Now

This piece does not explicitly refer to the Lok Sabha elections, but I believe the events described towards the end will have a bearing on the polls.

Ranchi, February 19

Hemant Soren might as well have stuck an aerial to his head: since the first day of his tenure, he has been taunted as being remote-controlled.

There was the father. Shibu Soren may be ageing, but is still easily the most popular leader in Jharkhand. He is doting enough to let his son play pull-down-governments but JMM’s leaders do not necessarily share the love and still prefer their Guruji with complaints and for counsel.

Then, there was the Congress. Union Minister Jairam Ramesh’s frequent visits to state have irked even his party’s leaders. At some point, Ramesh came to be called a second chief minister; someone who pulls strings from Delhi.

The inexperienced Hemant, on his first term as state legislator – he was a Rajya Sabha member for five-odd months before being elected – found a mentor in finance minister Rajendra Prasad. The Congress leader also handles parliamentary affairs and leads the counter-attacks the Opposition’s ire in the House. As an orator, Hemant is at best a strong room of stock phrases.

There has always been a ruthless streak about Hemant Soren: insisting that Mathura Prasad Mahato – a Shibu loyalist and old-timer who threatened to leave the party when the son went all-out to bring down Arjun Munda’s government – had to be kept out of his cabinet, for instance. The CM then inducted the timid Jai Prakash Bhai Patel, all of 31, to his council of ministers. Mahato had no defence; Patel was his son-in-law, after all.

Of late, that steel is more in evidence. When the RJD and the Congress came to an understanding on the Rajya Sabha polls on January 28, they went to Hemant to complain about the JMM naming a candidate. Savita Mahato, a Shibu Soren choice, was sent back to Jamshedpur after she made the trip to file nomination papers. Three Kurmi MLAs, led by Mathura Mahato, subsequently submitted their resignations to the senior Soren, but had to withdraw them after the party remained indifferent.

A week back, Congress minister Chandra Sekhar “Dadai” Dubey began verbally attacking the CM. The Congress did not discipline Dubey; Hemant looked weak and unable to respond. Dubey seemed to be on a mission to get himself ousted and succeeded with a truism: he said that Hemant was chief minister only because his father was Shibu Soren.

The nature of the ouster was interesting. Dubey had already been asked by his party to resign and he has claimed that he was going to do so. But Hemant, already been to Delhi to complain to Congress leaders, recommended at 10.30 in the morning on February 19 that Dubey be sacked. That meant the government went to the opening of its first Budget session that morning a foot soldier short.

He may be coming of age by cutting of heads instead of standing on the shoulders of giants, but Hemant Soren seems to be doing whatever it takes to survive in Jharkhand’s dog-eat-dog politics.

JSCA President joins JVM; to contest from Ranchi

Ranchi, February 27

Former IPS officer and current JSCA president Amitabh Choudhary on Thursday joined Babulal Marandi’s JVM(P) and will contest from the Ranchi Lok Sabha seat.

Choudhary quit the civil service in July 2013 when he was an Additional Director General holding the position of Special Secretary (Home). He has since been lobbying with various political parties, mainly the BJP, to contest the general elections. With the BJP reportedly intent on retaining former four-time-MP Ram Tahal Chaudhary, who lost to Congress’ Subodh Kant Sahay in 2004 as well as 2009, Choudhary has fallen back on Plan B, the JVM.

In an interview at his offices in the Jharkhand State Cricket Association’s stadium on Wednesday, Choudhary detailed his plans for the elections.

Earlier in the day, a BCCI team had inspected the stadium’s test-worthiness. The 40,000-capacity international area is Choudhary’s main achievement as an administrator; in one particularly long sentence, he said that it was a sign of things to come: “The stadium is only an indicator. The fact that this stadium, which has been rated by experts from across the world as the best in India and one of the best in the world, could be put up in three years’ time by one private individual or one private organisation without any help from any government, any public representative, and against all odds – both man-made and natural – it only means that if the government’s resources are put in the right direction, Jharkhand should become the finest state in the country in no time. People do understand that this [stadium] is demonstrative of what can be done.”

Choudhary is likely to be among six or seven former civil servants likely to be in the fray for Jharkhand’s 14 seats this term. However, he wants to distinguish himself from most of them. “There is a distinction between somebody who had an option and has left that option to choose this. The other case is where they did not have an option – they were superannuated, had few months’ service left or there were no chance they would have reached the top of their cadre. These are different cases from where somebody who was already at the top and had a long tenure left. What have you left to come here?” he said.

Choudhary left the IPS with seven years of service left. He would have been promoted to the rank of Director General this January had he stayed on: “All I had to do was remain calm: if some government was not pleased [with me], another would have been. I would have been DGP for half the tenure, at least. There was nothing more that I could have asked for…. I find that option better than spending my time cribbing about democracy and everything that it entails.”

The IIT-Kharagpur graduate was Senior Superintendent of Police, Ranchi during 1997-’03. He considers the arrest of two gangsters, Surendra Bengali and Anil Sharma, and the subsequent death sentences they received as his biggest achievement. Consequently, he is not worried about the “outsider” tag. As someone who relishes a good scrap, he points out that labelling him as the outsider has not helped his enemies in the past: “It happened even in 2006 when the then-Home Miniser of the state [AJSU leader Sudesh Mahto] had contested against me to become the president of the JSCA. One of the things orchestrated against me was this. Did not help him.”

Choudhary says he has been campaigning for 1.5 years now, covering “every nook and cranny” of Ranchi. He claims to have been to over 200 of Ranchi’s 217 panchayats and is promising an overhaul of the city’s infrastructure: “Basically, Ranchi was only a district town before Jharkhand was created. Has it been since conceptualised as a state capital? There has been so much more burden on the infrastructure of the city. The pain of that is being felt by every citizen day in and day out. As an urban entity, Ranchi is on the brink of collapse.”

With Jharkhand fast becoming a destination for those who need a Rajya Sabha membership, it was only fair to wonder why Choudhary never attempted go to the Upper House. He chuckled, then paused. “For a person like me, the Rajya Sabha is out of the question. Because I don’t have the resources. I will say nothing more than that,” he said.

Choudhary is making extensive use of his JSCA contacts for campaigning. He is active on social media, too: “It’s supplementing my hard work, but I don’t depend entirely on it.” Yet, by the time I made the 20-minute drive back home, I had a Facebook notification inviting me to like Choudhary’s page.