The three Santhal Pargana division seats of Dumka, Rajmahal and Godda along with the industrial constituency of Dhanbad will vote on April 24 bringing an end to the electoral exercise in the state. Dumka is the blockbuster contest of the 2014 Lok Sabha election in the state with Jharkhand Mukti Morcha chief Shibu Soren taking on Jharkhand Vikas Morcha Prajatantrik supreme Babu Lal Marandi.
While Shibu Soren was the winner from Dumka in 2009, BJP won Rajmahal, Godda and Dhanbad. Dumka will be keenly watched as the winner will also have an edge in the Assembly elections later in 2014. Marandi is trying hard to deliver the coup de grace to Soren and emerge as the tallest tribal leader.
In all the seats it is a multi-cornered contest with the principal players being BJP, JMM-Congress-Rashtriya Janata Dal combine and JVMP. But All Jharkhand Students Union and Trinamool Congress, which has given tickets to several disgruntled leaders from other parties, are trying to play spoilsport.
A total of 61,07,310 electors with 32,19,607 males and 28,84,434 females will decide the fate of 72 candidates in the four seat. There are six women candidates also in the fray. Voting will take place across 7,489 polling stations with 7,489 control units and 11,771 ballot units.
The seats going to polls:
Dumka (ST):
The 70-year-old Soren knows that his win is a must for the survival of not only his party but also the state government of his son Hemant Soren who has a precarious majority in the Assembly. Even though Soren has represented Dumka seven times in the Lok Sabha but the challenge by his one-time protege and another Santhal leader Babu Lal Marandi has pushed him on the backfoot.
Marandi's clean image, development work during his tenure as the first chief minister of Jharkhand, an appeal among all sections of the society and the double anti-incumbency of Soren and the state government are working against the Dishom Guru.
Yet Soren has an emotional connect with the Santhals and is a cult figure in the state because of his fight against non-tribal moneylenders who exploited the poor and illiterate tribals. The JMM is in alliance with the Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal which has resulted in a rainbow coalition of tribals, backward castes particularly Yadavs, Muslims and some forward castes.
Sunil Soren, the BJP candidate and another of Shibu Soren's one-time disciple, is trying to make the contest a triangular one. The BJP's strategy is to take full advantage of the Shibu Soren vs Marandi fight and squeeze through.
Godda: BJP has repeated its sitting MP Nishikant Dubey who is being helped by Deoghar Municipal Corporation Mayor Bablu Khawade and an Independent MLA. The party cadre is also upbeat as he is seen as an accessible leader. He is also credited with developing the railway network in Godda.
But his path is not easy this time as he faces strong rivals in Congress candidate Furkan Ansari and JVMP's Pradeep Yadav. The two leaders gave several several anxious moments to Dubey in 2009 with the BJP leader finally managing to secure 1,89,526 votes to defeat Ansari (1,83,119) by just 6407 votes. Yadav was third with 1,76,926 votes.
In fact Dubey won because Shibu Soren's late son Durga was also in the fray and secured 79,153 votes most of which would have gone to Ansari. With JMM and Congress joining hands this time, Dubey is in for a tough time as both Ansari and Yadav, who is very close to Marandi, are trying their luck once again.
The AJSU candidate is a former IPS officer Subodh Prasad while JDU has put up Dr Rajvardhan Azad, son of former Bihar chief minister Bhagwat Jha Azad and brother of BJP candidate from Darbhanga Kirti Jha Azad. Both Prasad and Azad could prove to be the dark horse.
Rajmahal(ST): In 2009 this seat was won by BJP's Devidhan Besra who has been replaced by a former JMM leader Hemlal Murmu. This decision caused a friction in the party with Besra and his supporter not campaigning for Murmu forcing the BJP on the defensive. Murmu had contested in 2009 on a JMM ticket and narrowly lost to Besra by 8,983 votes.
Now JMM has put up late Congress leader Thomas Hansda's son Vijay Kumar Hansda. Thomas Hansda came third in 2009 securing 1,35,011 votes compared to Besra's 1,68,357 and 1,59,374 for Murmu. Vijay Kumar Hansda has been handpicked by Chief Minister Hemant Soren and the result will also be a reflection on his political acumen.
JVMP candidate Dr Anil Murmu and AJSU's Arjun Prasad Singh, too, are trying to be in the contention.
Dhanbad: This constituency has two big cities Dhanbad and Bokaro and BJP is very strong in the area. The party has once again placed its bets on sitting MP Pashupati Nath Singh who faces Ajay Kumar Dubey of the Congress, JVMP nominee and Bokaro MLA Samaresh Singh, Trinamool Congress's Chandra Shekhar Dubey and noted educationist Hemlata S Mohan of the AJSU.
Two other veteran politicians Aklu Ram Mahto from Samajwadi Party and Marxist Coordination Committee's Anand Mahato are the other notable contenders. There are a total of 31 candidates in the fray.
Chandra Shekhar Dubey alias Dadai Dubey won the 2004 elections on a Congress ticket defeating BJP's Rita Verma. But this time the Congress denied him a ticket forcing Dubey to join the Trinamool Congress. He still has a very committed vote bank and has the potential to upset the apple cart of the established players.
BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, party president Rajnath Singh and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee have toured the constituency giving the much needed boost to their party workers.
The constituency has six Assembly seats Nirsa, Sindri, Dhanbad, Jharia, Bokaro and Chandankyari and BJP is very strong in the firs four while Samaresh Singh enjoys a lot of support in the last two. But with AJSU putting up DPS Bokaro Principal Hemlata S Mohan, Samaresh Singh's vote bank in Bokaro may be split.
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