Just a day ahead of the end of political campaigning in Panki and Godda, Chief Minister Raghubar Das attended three back to back campaign programmes in Panki Assembly constituency at leslieganj, Panki and Manatu seeking votes for BJP candidates lal Suraj, who happens to be son of former Minister Madhu Singh.
RJD Chief lalu Prasad Yadav also reached Panki today on his whirlwind poll campaign tour and began canvassing for Congress candidate Devendra Kumar Singh, who happens to be son of late Bidesh Singh, after whose demise the constituency seat fell vacant.
Congress bigwigs Tarachand Bhagora, PCC chief Sukhdeo Bhagat, Former Union Minister Subodh Kant Sahay and others have already been campaigning for the seat, held by the their party candidates since several years.
The two constituencies in the north and south borders of the State are witnessing intense campaigning by political bigwigs, including CM Raghubar Das and three former CMs of Jharkhand. Apart from Das, former CMs Arjun Munda, Hemant Soren and JMM Chief Shibu Soren are also holding poll rallies in the constituencies.
Back in Godda, a bordering district of Bihar, the JMM is pinning much hopes on its candidate Sanjiv Marik, who happens to be a former DGP of Odisha. The BJP, meanwhile, is trying to gain advantage of divided opposition with its candidate Amit Mandal, son of MlA Raghunandan Mandal whose demise made the seat vacant in January.
Although the two seats going for polls have been flooded by star campaigners, including Manoj Tiwari, Shanawaj Hussain and others, the two major political parties are keeping their fingers given the demographic structure of the region. Panki has seen caste-based politics for decades and the fight is not between the BJP and the JMM but Congress candidates Devendra Kumar Singh may also garner good votes, said a senior leader of the BJP requesting anonymity.
Similarly, he said, “Godda will also not be a cake walk with RJD candidate Sanjay Yadav in the fray. People voted to Naendra Modi and not Raghunandan Mandal during the last Assembly polls. So this time Amit Mandal may have to face a good contest with RJD and JMM candidates,” he added.
The bye elections may not have been much significant for Jharkhand if the State would have seen political stability in the last 15 years. The contest for just two seats in the 81-member House has, however, become, crucial with the political equations of parties and the case pending with the Speaker of Assembly about ‘defection’ of six JVM candidates to the BJP. Continued on Page 2
Godda, Panki witness intense campaigning for May 16 bypoll Winning the two seats would make the BJP stronger with numbers, but losing them would be a setback of the party that has gained full majority for the first time ever in the State. With the AJSU party gradually putting pressure on the BJP for change in recently announced domicile, further weakening of the BJP may give a more scope for political maneuvering. On the other hand, the JMM will be in a win- win situation with the two seats in the kitty.