Shibu ill, sons spar at will
Vijay Deo Jha Ranchi ELECTION Tuesday, April 7, 2009 National Page
There’s much rumbling within the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM). To be precise, within its chief Shibu Soren aka Guruji’s family!
As an ailing Shibu convalesces in the hospital, a war of succession is on between his sons, Durga and Hemant, to fill up the void and take control of the party, which is without a defined second line of leadership. Just days away from the first phase of election in the State, it has not only cast a shadow on the fate of the party but also its ally, the Congress.
Shibu thus has two formidable challenges on hand: To repeat the JMM’s success story of 2004 in this general election (keeping its alliance with the Congress intact) without his active involvement and decide his heir apparent without creating much dissent.
The war of succession, JMM insiders said, intensified after Shibu’s defeat in the Tamar Assembly byelection on January 8 this year. It has now reached a crescendo. “Elder brother Durga, however, seems to be losing out to Hemant. The younger brother has not only been involved in party affairs but also has the backing of party’s two senior-most MPs, Hemlal Murmu and Teklal Mahto, besides Shibu. But the JMM cadre are confused without Shibu, who is undoubtedly the only crowd puller for his party,” they said.
Both Durga and Hemant have had their share of defeats in the last Assembly elections but the former has already queered the pitch for the Congress, with which the JMM has an alliance in the State. First, he threatened to put up candidates on all the 14 seats and then went on to file his nomination from Godda (where the Congress has fielded its sitting MP Furkan Ansari), ignoring the pleas of everyone, including Shibu.
To him, the JMM’s UPA allies had conspired against his father to ensure his defeat in the Tamar byelection. He now wants to avenge it.
Shibu, however, was quick to issue a denial: “Durga is not the JMM candidate. The party has no plans to field him from Godda, nor has he been given the party symbol.”
Durga is also sore with the Congress and holds it responsible for “using” Shibu. He wanted his father to be re-installed as the Chief Minister before the poll. The Congress reacted by ignoring him. Its State in-charge K Keshav Rao then involved Hemant in the seat-sharing talks. While the Congress, with six sitting MPs, is contesting seven seats, the JMM -- with four sitting MPs -- is contesting five seats. The RJD has tied up with the LJP in the State.
The Congress announced that a JMM-led Government would be installed in Jharkhand soon after the UPA returns to power at the Centre. Durga felt Shibu was fooled yet again.
On many occasions, Durga had spoken against his own partymen in general and Hemant in particular. “Hemant to bachcha hai, usko party ke hi kuch senior log misguide kar rahe hain (Hemant is still a kid. Some party leaders are misguiding him),” he says. His associates point to Hemlal Murmu and Teklal Mahto, the duo that had grabbed the centrestage after compelling the Congress to install the JMM-led Government in Jharkhand in lieu of its support to the UPA during the trust vote last year.
Adding a new dimension to the war between the siblings are leaders like former Deputy Chief Minister and Kurmi leader Sudhir Mahto, who too nurses the ambition of heading the party. An ever-widening Kurmi-Adivasi divide in the party is also a cause for concern. The killing of a number of Kurmi leaders, including former JMM MP Sunil Mahto, has only widened the divide.
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