Hazaribagh located in the hilly terrain of Chotanagpur plateau offers a picturesque view of landscapes full of forests, lakes and hills. Though nature has bestowed city with immense natural beauty, but the constituency has numerous problems which are to remain as main issues in Lok Sabha election.
Illegal mining, displacement of people for mining, mob lynching on suspicion of transporting banned meat, lack of development in the area remain major issues in Hazaribag Lok Sabha constituency.
The constituency has remained a BJP bastion for most of times since its inception. This time the seat is going to witness triangular contest between, BJP candidate and union minister of State for civil aviation Jayant Singh, Congress Gopal Prasad Sahu and Communist Party of India (CPI) Bhubneshwar Prasad Mehta.
Incidents of cave-ins are frequently reported in the region’s fragile mines, trapping and killing those inside. But the poor people in the coal belt areas of Bhurkunda, Sayal, Giddi, Mandu, Rajrappa, Ghato, Barkakana have no other choice because money matters for them.
As the areas have several mines, illegal mining is also rampant. Apart from big players involved in mining, poor people also indulge in illegal mining for eking out their living. The involvement of poor people in illegal mining can be evident at Ranchi-Ramgarh Chuttupalu Ghati.
What characterizes the valley is the sight of hundreds of men pulling their cycles uphill, with five to eight sacks of coal loaded on each. These people buy the coal from various mines or from illegal miners near the Ramgarh district, load the sacks of coal in the cycles early in the morning and start the journey to Ranchi. The journey one way is around 50 to 60 km and an elevation is about 1000 ft.
Rajendra Ram, one of the people, who is in illegal coal business said, “We get Rs 500 to 600 by selling five to six sacks of coal. But the 60 km journey is very tiring. One and half day is spent, but in absence of better job opportunities we are left with no other options than to carry out the business.”
Ram further said, “As the work which we are doing is illegal, many a times police conduct raids to nab people involved in illegal activities.”
Apart from illegal mining, the eviction of people by government in name of setting up industries is also main issue many a times leading to violent protest by villagers. In 2016, a group of villagers stalled construction work at NTPC Chirudih demanding permanent jobs in the upcoming project. Four people were killed and several injured in clash between police and villagers as they were protesting against land acquisition by the NTPC. Congress MLA from Barkagoan Nirmala Devi and her husband Yogendra Sao were arrested by police on charges of inciting villagers.
Hazaribag is also a communally sensitive region as in past the several incidents of communal tension between two communities and is said to be laboratory of ‘Hindutava’ politics. In 2017 too communal tension escalated in the area after a man named Alimuddin Ansari, was lynched on June 217. Alimuddin was lynched on the suspicion that he was transporting banned meat in his vehicle, which was later set on fire.
Sources said that while Congress candidate supported by Mahagathbandhan parties Gopal Sahu, who is contesting his first Lok Sabha elections is to raise all these issue, Jayant Sinha banks on Modi magic and strong support base of BJP cadres in the region.
The constituency in Jharkhand has been a BJP’s stronghold with veteran party leader Yashwant Sinha having won three times from here. In 2014, his son Jayant Sinha defeated Saurabh Narayan Singh of the Congress by 1.59 lakh votes and went on to become a minister in the BJP-led Central government.
The Congress candidate Gopal Sahu comes from traditionally Congress family as his elder brother Shiv Prasad Sahu was MP from Ranchi twice. Sahu who is State Congress treasurer is also brother of Dhiraj Sahu the Rajya Sabha MP of Congress from State.
The Hazaribag Lok Sabha seat comprises five assembly segments—Hazaribag, Mandu, Ramgarh, Barkagoan and Barhi. Out of these five assembly seats, BJP has one MLA (Hazaribag), BJP partner AJSU party (Ramgarh), while Barhi and Barkagoan have Congress lawmakers. The Mandu seat is held by rebel JMM Jai Prakash Bhai Patel. Last month Patel rebelled against JMM deciding to support NDA in Lok Sabha election. Around 16.64 lakh voters will decide the fate of three candidates on May 6.