The Hindu : Tough battle of ballot in Poryahat by-poll

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Feb 25, 2003

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Other States - Jharkand

Tough battle of ballot in Poryahat by-poll

Ranchi Feb 24. Faced with strong in-house bickering, the ruling NDA in Jharkhand is heading for a tough electoral battle in the forthcoming Poryahat assembly by-poll on February 26.

The BJP nominee Ajit Kumar Yadav is pitted against joint opposition candidate Prashant Mandal of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha.

The BJP nominee is the brother of Mr Pradeep Yadav who gave up the assembly seat after being elected to the Lok Sabha.

The ruling BJP has spared no efforts to retain the seat, which has become a prestige issue, especially after the dissidence in the party and the unity projected by the three major opposition parties -- the JMM, the Congress and the RJD.

Five of its ministers belonging to the allies Samata Party and the Janata Dal (United) have demanded the chief minister's resignation, giving the opposition an opportunity to exploit and dent the support base of the saffron brigade.

The NDA had gone to the by-poll highlighting the achievements in the past two years while the opposition is trying to encash on its new found unity and the ``anti incumbency'' factor following the ``faulty policies'' of the government on sensitive issues like panchayat elections, reservations and the resident issue.

Sources said the BJP strategists are not much worried about the opposition's unity, but are concerned about the recent developments in the NDA which had made the Poryahat by-poll a litmus test for Chief Minister Babulal Marandi's popularity.

Though the BJP nominee had been projected in Poryahat as an NDA candidate, no senior leader from the Samata Party or the JD(U) had hit the campaign trail so far.

The rebel Samata and the JD (U) leaders, when contacted, said they had never been invited by the BJP to campaign for Mr Yadav.

JD (U) legislature party leader Lalchand Mahato and Samata state chief Ramesh Singh Munda even described Mr Yadav as a candidate of the BJP and not of the NDA, saying the allies were not consulted before fielding the nominee.

Meanwhile, the crisis further intensified when the five dissident ministers refused to talk to the chief minister despite being approached by his emissaries.

Talking to UNI here, state land reforms minister Madhu Singh said, ``There is no question of a dialogue with Mr Marandi whose ouster had been demanded by us.''

He said there was also no question of further talks on the matter as the chief minister's resignation was the only way out to save the NDA government in the state.

``Our priority is to protect the interests of the NDA and ensure that it remained in power but not at the cost of our demands,'' he clarified adding, they were ready to go to any extent if Mr Marandi was not replaced.

To a query, he said, ``It is unfortunate that small time politicians were being sent as emissaries. The BJP is not at all serious about our demands.''

``There is no question of any compromise. We have made it clear even to our central leaders,'' said Mr Singh. However, the five minister would discuss the matter again on February 28, he added.

On the possibility of floating a separate political outfit in case the NDA decided not to replace Mr Marandi or joining hands with the opposition, he said anything was possible after February 27, the deadline given by the dissident ministers for replacing Mr Marandi. -- UNI

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