Sawna Hembrom is a non-matric. However, he "treats" aliments starting from TB to epilepsy to arthritis of 5-6 patients twice in a week from his courtyard of langopada village; just 15 kilometres away from Dumka town. His patients bring mahua liquor and a chicken for treatment, which he culls and pours the blood with wine as offering to deity 'Chutunath'.
"They believe in me and the 'Chutunath'. All their problems are solved here," says Sawna with a winning smile and quickly adds, "The deity is like our leader Shibu Soren." "We don't know anything other than him and teer-kaman (JMM election symbol bow and arrow)." Santhal Pargana, the core area of Shibu Soren and his party is hard to be erased from the memories of people living in hinterlands despite no change having taken place over the years in their well being.
The practice is flourishing as the nearest health centre is 10 kms away at Malpahari and no one except a quack visits the village and nearby to deal with health problems. It is equally hard to carry an ill person to the hospital so the age old solution is Sawna Hembrom.
Village after village of the vast Santhal belt has just JMM flags unfurling on shanties with villagers refusing to acknowledge others. "It is hard to provide jobs here. This is not Jamshedpur or Dhanbad where factories and mines would come. Most of our co-villagers have gone to Bengal to earn. Nothing would happen even if Modi comes. Has he brought black money or provided Rs15 lakh to all of us as he had said," Bhagat Murmu of Dasorai village asked a counter. Chief Minister Hemant Soren is seeking re-election from Dumka.
Barely-literate Murmu lives adjacent to the airstrip where Narendra Modi had delivered his speech a day before at Dumka and pitched for the punishment to be given to Baap-Beta referring to Shibu and Hemant Soren at least once.
Murmu admitted that his argument was taught to him ahead of Modi's visit by the JMM cadres and he endorses this also.
First word of dissent heard at Karma Tand. The village is like an oasis and has Congress flags. "It is because the 'Sasural' of Sagen Murmu is in the village. Not a single work has taken place here either under MlA or MP area development fund in this village. The CM has never visited the place ever though he happens to be the local MlA. Still he gets vote from the area because Shibu had worked for the abolition of 'Mahajani' system. As long as he is there, the JMM is there for sure," says Akhilesh Hansda.
Counting on the issues present over there, Pradhan Hansda added that he had not been paid his NREGA wages for digging well on his own land over two years ago. He was sharpening his arrow to hunt local birds to arrange meal. His wife Sufali asked why the contractors deploy heavy machines instead of manual labourers "which would have provided some source of livelihood to them."
It seems also that both the contesting parties -- JMM and BJP-lJP combine -- have accepted the ground reality in advance. In most of the villages of Dumka constituency no footprint of the BJP's luis Marandi can be seen while her workers are banking just on Modi wave to sail through. Similarly, feeling confident, the JMM has turned complacent and put just flags. In Shikaripara, the BJP is being charged for handing over the seat to the lJP, sniffing a sure debacle.
"It is correct that Shibu fought against 'Mahajani' but now his party is promoting 'daaru' and 'handia' to win votes. You can see the menace at every nook and corner here and no one is complaining. In fact, this has become a tool and handia sellers have replaced mahajans (money lenders)," Subhash Mandal, a CPI-Ml activist who said that to remind the voters about Shibu Soren the JMM would organise massive feasts a night ahead of the poll. "He would remain their deity for some more time," added Mandal.