To the dismay of political pundits this election, extremist outfits present in the jungles of Bundu and Tamar are no more a coercing factor in the elections as there are too many candidates of their own choice in the poll fray from the constituency, say locals.
“They (PlFI and CPI-Maoist) have not issued any diktat mentioning their preference and I have not heard of any,” pointed out Jado Munda of Seranghatu in Arki., while the Pioneer conducted a reality check in the jungles of Tamar constituency about 70 kms away from State capital Ranchi.
Interestingly, at least three out of the 13 candidates in the fray have been associated with the extremist outfits in some way or the other. locals say, sitting MlA Raja Peter has a strong base in the area, while JMM candidate Salomi Tuti is wife of reformed Maoist Marshal Tuti and Jharkhand Party’s Kalicharan Munda too enjoys local groups support.
From a bird’s eye view the wave in the favour of Bhartiya Janta Party could have the power of sweeping away opponents off their feet but Tamar appears to be an exception to what has been a rule during lok Sabha elections. If locals are believed sitting MlA Gopal Krishna Patar popularly known as Raja Peter is himself a factor sweeping through the constituency despite the Narendra Modi factor that has given recognition to the AJSU party (AJSU) candidate Vikas Kumar Munda.
Munda is being supported by the saffron camp whereas Raja Peter filed nomination as an independent candidate after BJP forfeited the Assembly seat for alliance partner AJSU Party. Peter had resigned from the party to protest after he lost the candidature due to seat sharing formula between the BJP and AJSU party.
Peter who won last election as a Janta Dal-United candidate is known for maintaining ties with the people of Tamar expressed unequivocally by the voters of the constituency themselves and amid evolving political equations is the strongest contender with ubiquitous presence in the vast forest dominated areas of Bundu and Tamar. Munda, who is the son of former MlA Ramesh Singh Munda, is facing an identity crisis as a candidate.
“Even children know about Raja Peter. He comes to our village, takes part in functions enquires people about their requirement but nobody recognizes Vikash as he rarely visited our village or any other village,” said Shaktidhar Adhikari of Gosaintola in Bundu.
Notwithstanding the identity crisis, BJP and AJSU’s traditional vote bank could offset the crisis for Munda who had lost 2009 elections by 1471 votes. The AJSU-BJP candidate is to some extent likely to get benefit of the saffron party’s stature as a national party vis-à-vis the disgruntled former BJP man contesting without any banner.
The saffron camp’s call for a stable government besides better prospects of development under the same party at the centre and state has appealed to a smaller section of electorates in Tamar.
“He (Raja Peter) is an independent candidate and cannot lobby with the Central government to bring development projects in Tamar. BJP being a national party can do more for the area if their candidate wins and a stable government is formed. Peter visits his constituency but has no development work to seek re-election,” maintains PK Soni of Tamar.
Meanwhile, common problems are staring at people living under the fear of ultras are incidentally the Achilles Heals of the sitting MlA from Tamar. Roads, electricity, medical facilities, ration cards and joblessness are few problems in Tamar which erstwhile left-wing ideologues in poll fray are using to dethrone Peter.
“Benefits were restricted mostly to outer areas. Whereas in remote areas people still complain about no ration cards, no pension cover, no drinking water and absence of electricity. No work has been done,” added Jharkhand Party candidate, Kalicharan Munda.
View of posters and banners, put up in villages and on roads leading into villages in the dense forests, in numbers enough to eclipse other parties’ candidate makes one to draw the inference that the direct fight is between the coalition candidate and Raja Peter.
“There is no other candidate in poll fray for the people of Tamar. Its either Raja Peter of Vikash,” said a passerby at Seragnhatu in Arki.