JVM's Chatra candidate gets Maoist support

Published here
Chatra, April 5

Babulal Marandi's JVM(P) is trying to capture Chatra by offering its voters their first-ever MP from within the constituency, but a whisper campaign is threatening to derail the effort.

Her opponents say in private that Neelam Devi, a 37-year-old housewife who was previously not known as a leader, has the support of the CPI-Maoist. A top police officer said there were indications that the CPI-Maoist's Regional Committee member Nakul Yadav is supporting Neelam. "We cannot prove it in any way, but I have come to know that this candidate's family is close to Nakul Yadav and that he has declared his support for her," said the officer, who talked on the condition of anonymity.

However, another officer, who works in the region denied any knowledge of this. "Even I came to know of this allegation through informal conversations. We have no such information about her," said a top police officer who serves in the region. For the record, her affidavit states that Neelam has no criminal cases against her.

The CPI-Maoist officially declares a vote boycott, but candidates and political parties often find themselves having to negotiate with LWE organisation for tacit support.

The allegation is interesting also because of the JVM's history with the Maoists. Babulal Marandi's son Anup was killed by alleged Maoists in October 2007; Babulal himself alleged on March 13 that his political opponents had given a supari to left wing extremists to murder him.

The JVM(P) has made several shrewd moves while deciding on the candidacy of Neelam - and it seems to be paying off at the moment, as she is constantly mentioned among the top three candidates in Chatra.

As things stand, along with Singhbhum's Geeta Kora, Neelam is one of the two women candidates in 14-constituency Jharkhand with a realistic chance of victory - none of the BJP, Congress and JMM have nominated woman candidates. Neelam is the only woman in the JVM's list. Conscious of the fact that the BJP's campaign targets men almost exclusively - only a handful of women turned up for Narendra Modi's March 27 rally in Chatra town - the JVM is going the extra mile to appeal directly to women voters.

However, what makes Neelam particularly appealing to voters is the fact that she - a resident of Latehar's Chandwa - is among the select few residents from the constituency get a winnable ticket. No resident from within the constituency has ever won the Chatra seat. "Even when we were part of Bihar and when we had Gaya along with Latehar and Chatra districts within the constituency, no one from these places won," said Mohammad Ehsan, the JVM(P)'s constituency incharge. In fact, neither the BJP nor the Congress has even given tickets to local leaders.

That trend continues this time, with the BJP nominating Bihar's Sunil Singh and the Congress, Lohardaga's Dhiraj Prasad Sahu. Neelam Devi's Yadav identity may help her in dalit-stronghold Chatra, with Sunil Singh being a Rajput and Dhiraj Prasad Sahu, a Teli. However, the BJP is counting on a win. "A large number of Telis could end up voting for us as Narendra Modi is from the caste. There are two other Yadavs in the fray, so their vote will be split," pointed out Chatra's Lamta panchayat president Amit Choubey, a BJP supporter.

Babulal Marandi's presence and Neelam's resident status in Latehar means that the adivasis there could vote for her. "Recently, there was a meeting organised by her supporters for adivasi voters of the constituency. I could see there was a lot of support for Neelam Devi there," said Surendra Lakra, from Latehar's Balumath block.The BJP is worried about the influence of friend-turned-foe and ongoing Chatra MP and Independent Inder Singh Namdhari, who is working to defeat both Chatra as well as Palamu candidates of the party as he was denied a ticket.

However, the Muslims could hold the key. "Muslims here have not decided yet. Their primary aim is the defeat of the BJP, so they could vote en masse for the candidate they think is the closest to the BJP's. The JVM(P) is trying to get them to vote for us," said Mohammad Ehsan.