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.