Marandi battles it out in Ramgarh

Marandi battles it out in Ramgarh
MANOJ PRASAD

RAMGARH, FEB 13: ``For a happy Jharkhand, for the development of Ramgarh, vote for me,'' says BJP candidate and Jharkhand Chief Minister Babulal Marandi who has the distinction of trouncing the ``Dishum Guru'' Shibu Soren in Dumka in 1998 and Soren's wife Rupi two years later.

Though he continues to hold the Dumka Lok Sabha seat, Marandi is takingno chances, hoping to bag the Ramgarh Assembly seat, since otherwise his three-month-old government will fall.

Ramgarh is home to CPI's late MLA Bheda Singh, whose widow Najma Quereshi is trying to retain the seat on a CPI ticket. Quereshi and her comrades, supported by the CPI-M, CPI-ML and the MCC, have relegated their Communist ideology to the background and aggressively playing up the sympathy factor. ``She is a helpless widow. She deserves your precious vote,'' CPI workers remind voters.

The BJP knows there is no better way for it to win in the widow's home turf. Marandi also knows this belt is dominated by Koiris and Kurmi-Mahatos -- two Backward Castes which are known for their enterprising zeal.

Of the 1.97 lakh electorate, an estimated 84,000 are Koiris and Kurmi-Mahatos. They have never been loyal to any party, but tend to voteen bloc. For the BJP, this is the acid test. A majority of coal merchants, traders and businessmen have promised Marandi their support. His ally, the state Minister of Public Works Department, Sudesh Mahato, who heads the All Jharkhand Students' Union, said: ``All Mahatos will vote for him.''

But JMM MLA Teklal Mahato, a popular figure in the neighbouring Mandu constituency, is campaigning for JMM candidate Arjun Ram. Mahato is likely to help Ram get a section of the Koiri and the Mahato votes. If this happens, it may split their votes in Marandi's favour.

But Quereshi feels her victory is certain. ``Apart from the Left parties, even the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Jharkhand Vikas Party -- whose candidates had separately polled 20,000-odd votes in the last election which my husband had won by over 12,000 votes -- have come out in open support of us. Marandi is bound to lose,'' she reasons.

The public, meanwhile, think a Chief Minister for an MLA wouldn't be a bad deal. At Chitarpur village in the Gola block, Sitarampur Manjhi, who own a cycle repair shop there, says: ``Marandi is the Chief Minister. If he wins, he is bound to work for the people here.' Manjhi's son nods in agreement. But Rampat Mahato, who owns a dhaba in the same place, thinks differently. ``Marandi belongs to the party we all had supported earlier. But this time we will not support it because although it had hiked the price of kerosene and diesel and several other products of industry, the prices of the commodities produced by the farmers remained the same.''

Officials, meanwhile, are gearing up for possible violence during polling

Sub Divisional Officer Rajendra Pratap Sinha said: ``In order to conduct a free, fair and peaceful election, all 261 booths in the constituency have been declared sensitive''. The Election Commission has directed the administration to ensure that each of these booths has eight constables and two havildars.