This was published, edited, here.
Babulal Marandi's JVM-P, depleted by the flight of eight of its 11 MLAs, is performing a dangerous experiment in Chatra district's Simariya constituency by promoting a candidate who is using the opportunity to further the cause of a banned organisation he has links to.
Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) has nominated Ganesh Ganjhu to the Simariya seat; Ganesh is the elder brother of Brajesh Ganjhu, the supremo of the banned left wing extremist organisation Tritiya Sammelan Prastuti Committee.
The TSPC has thrown its weight behind Ganesh, especially in the Lawalong block where its main leaders live: no other party managed to open campaign offices there. Reports from the ground indicate TSPC, whose supremo Brajesh is widely expected to eventually become a politician, has used its clout to support JVM-P candidates in the adjoining Chatra and Latehar constituencies, which voted on November 25.
Former CM Babulal Marandi knows the dangers of extremism well: his son Anup Marandi was killed by alleged Maoists in 2007. Yet, cornered after most his legislators defected to the BJP, Marandi - who has always stood for a clean public image - seems to have prioritised survival over everything else. His party had also given its Tamar ticket to Mahadev Ravinath Pahan, related to Kundan Pahan, the state's second-most-wanted Maoist leader.
By giving the TSPC the opportunity to win three seats, Marandi risks being beholden to the Ganjhu brothers if they succeed. It is also a measure of the TSPC’s growth over the past five years that it now aspires to win three seats.
The JMM is also not far behind: among others, it has given tickets to wives of former Maoists in Tamar and Chatra; its Simariya candidate Rajkumari Devi is the wife of banned organisation Jharkhand Prastuti Committee's supremo Guddu Ganjhu.
"Babulal Marandi is a good leader, but he has spoilt his party's name by giving ticket to Ganesh here," said Binod Bihari Paswan, the Communist Party of India's Simariya candidate, who was fired upon by unknown assailants on Saturday night. "I am sure it was the TPC. Before I filed my nomination, two boys on a bike had threatened me by saying only Ganesh Ganjhu will contest from here," said Binod, whom the bullets missed and who now moves around with seven bodyguards.
The BJP has also complained to the Election Commission, alleging it's workers have been beaten up. "Ganesh Ganjhu has not let my supporters campaign in Lawalong. The administration is refusing to take our complaints seriously," said BJP's candidate Sujeet Bharati. This newspaper has reported that the TSPC was formed by the state police and continues to enjoy its patronage.
In the 2010 elections to local bodies, the TSPC had ensured that most of Lawalong would be represented by its nominees, elected unopposed. Brajesh Ganjhu his himself the deputy panchayat president of Lawalong. Sources in Lawalong told this newspaper that Ganesh's campaign was on Monday - the eve of the campaign - distributing blankets among voters. These blankets were presumably supplied by the state government to panchayats to be given to people for the season.
Earlier this year, chief minister Hemant Soren had told the state assembly that former DGP V.D. Ram had formed the TSPC; Ram is currently a Lok Sabha member of the BJP - there were allegations that the TSPC had supported his attempt to be Palamu MP. The TSPC had supported the BJP's LS campaign in Chatra too - as Ganesh was then a BJP member. He had moved over from the JMM, which had given him a ticket in 2009: he came second.
This assembly election, Chatra's outgoing MLA and RJD candidate Janardhan Paswan had alleged the TSPC supported JVM-P candidate Satyanand Bhokta by holding Jan Adalats. This newspaper had reported from Latehar on how a TSPC squad threatened villagers, demanding votes for JVM-P's Prakash Ram. In contrast, the JVM-P's LS election candidate Neelam Devi - a Prakash Ram choice - was reportedly supported by the CPI-Maoist.
No comments:
Post a Comment