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In a Jharkhand seat, JMM MLA faces the key accused in his father’s murder case
JD(U)’s Gopal Krishna Patar got out on bail last year. He will try to retake Tamar, which he won in a 2009 bypoll in Jharkhand, months after current MLA Vikas Munda’s father was killed.
Tamar Constituency Faces Key Election Battle with Power Dues Waiver, Historical Rivalry, and Voter Discontent
Two candidates from opposing camps who share a long history, waiver of power dues by the ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), and a slew of promises by the BJP are some factors at play in the constituency of Tamar in Jharkhand’s Ranchi district.
A seat reserved for Scheduled Tribes (STs), and one of the 15 in the state’s South Chotanagpur region, Tamar will go to the polls in the first phase on November 13. Here, incumbent JMM MLA Vikas Munda, a two-term legislator, will lock horns with former state minister Gopal Krishna Patar of the JD(U). STs comprise over 50% of the electorate while Dalits and Muslims make up around 9% and 7%, respectively.
Vikas hopes the power dues waiver will win support, but voter Rajkumar, from the OBC community, criticizes the JMM, citing a decade-old unresolved issue with electricity infrastructure in his area.
“Some people who have not benefited (from the government schemes) have developed a dislike for the dispensation,” he says.
Power Dues Waiver and Election Promises Shape Tamar’s Electoral Battle as Peter and JMM Vie for Voters’ Support
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) accused Peter of “masterminding” the fatal attack on Ramesh. At the time, the NIA deemed it to be a “Naxal attack”. Peter got bail last year and for some of his supporters, the case is no longer a key factor in the elections. Peter says that he hopes that his “personal connect” and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s appeal will see him through.
Peter’s hopes lie with voters such as 35-year-old Kani Devi, a tailor who has set up shop in the heart of the market area of Tamar. Her husband Sukhdev Sawasin, who hails from the Dalit community, lends her a hand. Devi, who learnt tailoring from a “master sahab” in her locality six years ago, is instrumental in helping the business thrive.
“I took the lead and learnt tailoring. Starting from a single sewing machine in the locality, today I own a shop and generate employment for six people. People earlier laughed at me and the state government has been of no help,” she says.
Though a beneficiary of the JMM’s government’s Maiyya Samman Yojana, which provides a monthly financial aid of Rs 1,000 to eligible women between 21 and 50 years old, Devi believes that the state government should have implemented the scheme much earlier.
Tamar Constituency: Power Dues Waiver and BJP Promises Shape Voter Sentiment Ahead of November Elections
“The JMM’s promises are purely for election purposes. I have registered for the BJP’s Didi Gogo Yojana, which has promised Rs 2,100 after the polls. I believe in the BJP and it will win,” says the self-proclaimed Modi fan. “Peter has always been available for us.
In 2009, Peter won the bypoll following Ramesh’s killing. He contested on a Jharkhand Party ticket and defeated JMM patriarch and former CM Shibu Soren. He retained the seat as a JD(U) nominee in 2009 and was subsequently elevated to the Arjun Munda Cabinet.
Chamra Rawani, an OBC shop owner, believes the JMM’s power dues waiver will be a “game changer” in Tamar.
“The power dues waiver is resonating more among people than the Maiyya Samman Yojana. I can confidently say that the JMM will win here despite anti-incumbency as many people in villages who were burdened by the dues are free from it now,” she says, adding that a chunk of votes from OBCs, traditionally seen as BJP voters, will shift towards the JMM because of the waiver.
