New tribal face for state Congress |
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Ranchi/New Delhi, May 13: The
Congress today appointed Sukhdeo Bhagat (47) as the Jharkhand Pradesh
Congress Committee (JPCC) president, amid growing clamour in favour of
Rajya Sabha MP Pradeep Kumar Balmuchu who was hoping for an extension.
The decision,
thereby, foiled a last-ditch effort by Balmuchu, who was planning a
massive tribal rally in Ranchi on May 19 — with Rahul Gandhi in
attendance — to impress upon the party high command his “worthiness”.
The Congress
central leadership, however, was not keen to extend his tenure. With the
change in guard, the rally has also been postponed. Sources close to
party vice-president Rahul revealed he wanted the new state leadership
to take a fresh call on the proposed tribal meet.
Bhagat’s
appointment became apparent on Saturday when party president Sonia
Gandhi summoned him to her residence in Delhi and asked him to prepare
for the big job.
State Congress
in-charge Shakeel Ahmed said a notification in this regard was issued in
the afternoon today. “He is comparatively young and popular. We hope
that he will energise the party,” he said.
Soon after the
announcement was made by party general secretary Janardan Dwivedi in
Delhi today, Bhagat, a prominent tribal leader who belongs to the Oraon
tribe, said, “We have a strong base of activists in the state. The
challenge before me is to encourage them to take up people’s causes.
“I will also try to work towards better co-ordination between senior party leaders and activists at the ground level.”
A former Jharkhand
state administrative officer who did his MPhil from Delhi University,
Bhagat has been elevated to the state’s top post at a time when the
support base and electoral fortunes of the faction-ridden party have
taken a hit. In Jharkhand, the party is already divided in two major
factions lead by two party stalwarts Balmuchu and Subodh Kant Sahay,
respectively.
“It will be a
tightrope walk for Bhagat. He will get only six months to streamline
everything as the Assembly polls are expected at the end of this year,” a
Congress leader said.
Bhagat, a former
MLA from Lohardaga, and Sisai MLA Gitashree Oraon were the front runners
for the job. But, being a rookie in politics and lesser known figure,
the daughter of former Congress stalwart Kartik Oraon had make way for
him.
According to
sources, Rahul wanted a non-controversial name from the tribal
community, preferably from the Sarna faith, to reconnect the party with
its tribal and non-tribal constituents.
Balmuchu, who was
in office for more than seven years, is a Christian belonging to the Ho
tribe and apparently, there was no known face who could replace him,
except Bhagat — considered to be close to the Gandhi scion.
By and large,
Christian tribals are still with the Congress in Jharkhand. With BJP
trying to regain its hold over tribals belonging to the Sarna faith
through RSS-backed organisations, Bhagat seems to be the Congress answer
to the saffron party’s tactics.
Followers of the Sarna faith, which, the RSS claims, is very close to Hinduism, have been seeking a distinct identity.
It was their
undaunted support that had helped Congress stalwarts like Bandi Oraon
and Kartik Oraon to rise to fame. In fact, this was why Rahul, during
his meeting with Bhagat and other senior state leaders on March 21, had
suggested programmes to win back this tribal community.
Bhagat, too, came
to limelight in 2003, banking on the Sarna issue. Still a civil servant,
he had taken on RSS leader Ashok Varshney when he had referred to the
Sarnas as Vanvashis. Bhagat had objected saying the RRS was trying to
“kill the distinct identity of the Sarnas”. Eventually, he joined the
Congress in 2005 and won the Lohardaga seat in the Assembly elections.
Though he lost the constituency in 2009, his stature and popularity in
the party had constantly grown, said party insiders.
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Monday, May 13, 2013
| VIJAY DEO JHA |
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Ranchi, May 11:
The cold war between Pradeep Balmuchu and Shakeel Ahmed, two leaders
central to the Congress’s fortunes in Jharkhand, has now turned into a
shadow boxing match with both leaders trying to out-manoeuvre each other
under the watchful eyes of Delhi.
Balmuchu, in a
last-ditch effort to stay on as state party chief, is banking on a
tribal rally he proposes to hold in Ranchi on May 19 with Rahul Gandhi
in attendance.
Ahmed on the other
hand is using all his powers as Delhi’s pointsman looking after party
affairs in Jharkhand to convince anyone who is willing to listen that
Balmuchu must go. The duo has never really seen eye to eye. But, it
seems the gloves are off now.
So keen is
Balmuchu to have Rahul Gandhi, he has already changed the rally dates
thrice — from May 4, 11 and 18 — to accommodate his schedule.
He is now using
his best contacts in the national capital — Union rural development
minister Jairam Ramesh is among them — to ensure Rahul’s presence, but
according to those who are close to the Gandhi scion, he is not going to
be available for the May 19 show as well.
This apart,
Balmuchu is also trying his best to have Ahmed replaced as the
Congress’s Jharkhand in-charge. In fact, a lobby within the state party,
spearheaded by Balmuchu and Dhiraj Sahu, is pushing for Ramesh to be
made the man in charge, hoping to time their campaign alongside a
reshuffle of the central party administration now that Karnataka has
swung back to the Congress fold.
But Ahmed sounded
sceptical of any change at the top now. “There may or may not be such a
move now,” he said. “There may be some people who may not like my style
of functioning. I am a man of the organisation. Jahan party mujhe lagayegi wahan jayenge (I will fit in wherever the party shifts me).”
A Congress
office-bearer also dismissed suggestions that Ahmed’s job was under
threat. “It is a six months’ old move. Balmuchu wants a favourable man.
Ahmed doesn’t fit into his scheme of things because he knows where the
problems lie. Balmuchu never arranges any public programme for him.
Ahmed is a serious worker of the party,” he explained.
Last month, a
group of pro-Balmuchu Congressmen in Delhi had nearly succeeded in
convincing the central leadership about sending Ahmed to Bihar to
counter RJD’s Lalu Prasad. But Ahmed wasn’t interested.
As national
spokesperson for the Congress, Ahmed holds charge of Bengal, Andman
& Nikobar, besides Jharkhand. During the last two years, Ahmed has
won the appreciation of the party rank and file here for his down to
earth nature who is loath to promote factionalism.
Balmuchu’s dislike
for Ahmed is perhaps understandable. Last year, after his visit to
Jharkhand, Rahul Gandhi asked him to speak to the party rank and file
and furnish a report on the reasons behind the Congress’s electoral
failure in Jharkhand.
Ahmed’s report went against Balmuchu, and rightly so.
Balmuchu wanted to
form a new team last year. Ahmed put his foot down, saying that only
the central party leadership could take such a call.
He even opposed
Balmuchcu’s move to appoint loyalists like Keshav Mahato Kamlesh,
Kalipad Soren, Nita Devi and Madan Mohan Sharma as chiefs of
boards/corporations after President’s Rule was imposed.
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IPL fever bowls capital
- Hey, look at Gayle, Gambhir
VIJAY DEO JHA
Ranchi
courtesy The Telegraph
“Hotele
ki hochchhe? Eto Bheed keno?,” Bharat Bose (70) a former bank employee, puffing
bidi with tea, curiously asked the tea stall owner about hundreds peeping
inside Hotel Radisson Blu this afternoon.
“Dada,
IPL er bheed. Era sobai player dekhte eseche? Apni dekhte jaben na ki?
(This crowd is for IPL. They have come to see players? Will you not got to
watch the game?).
Bose was quite unmoved by frenzy of cricket
and the fight of purple of SRK’s ‘Kolkata Knight Rider’ with red of Vijay Mallya
Royal Challenger this evening at International Cricket Stadium, Dhurwa. “Ei
crickete amar interest nai, (I have no interest in this kind of cricket),” Bose
seemed to have problem with 20-20 format of cricket that he said a ‘money making
game’ that has taken toll over class cricket and test matches.
But, Bose remained an isolated voice as
others joined the discourse occupying wooden bench of the tea stall much in the
fashion of Hindu pantheons arranged in a row. “Only you are getting crazy, rest
is rejoicing it. Have you seen how Chris Gayle sending every ball out of
boundary? Just see people waiting to
see the players. Many of us are going to watch,” a young man interrupted.
Crowd erupted all of a sudden in front of
the hotel, with deafening decibels of sloganeering much in the fashion of a the
rally of the Mamta Banarjee — Gambhir,
Gambhir, Gayle tu khel — as soon as players left for the stadium in the
afternoon. The local police and the IMG Security Limited soon pushed them back
to make way for the players.
“It is happening daily sir. Hundreds come
everyday requesting us to allow them to go inside to see the players. They even
offer us good bucks if we could manage their autograph what a craze for cricket
sir. Very tight security sir…it will remain till Thursday till the players will
leave the hotel,” a hotel security guard said. Ranchi has reasons to regale as the city will
host another IPL match on Wednesday between Pune Warrior and Kolkata Knight
Rider.
“Today, Gambhir will not smile on the
ground he has said to the media. He will deliver his best to make the game a korbo, lorbo story. But Gel is going to bring
hell upon his opponent,” Prabhu Kumar a student said. Kumar lamented he could
have seen them playing on the ground if his pocket would have allowed to
purchase ticket. Gambhir is leading the Kolkata Knight Rider against Virat
Kohali of the Royal Challenger.
The team of Gambhir, he said, has lost
eight matches out of 13 played so far and the victory tonight is quite required.
Elaborate arrangements were made by the
hotel authorities for the players of three teams staying here. “Good
arrangements have been made. Food is prepared according to their choice to
serve them during Super Breakfast. Items prepared at the Kabab Factory in the
hotel are loved by all the players,” a manager of the hotel said.
The day being Sunday, the city road bore
a deserted look, shops remained closed and the Firayalal Chowk that defies
silence on any day obliged the call of the day. “But you see the rush of people
and traffic on the road leading to the ground. People are very passionate about
cricket. We have deployed good number of traffic cops and dedicated QRT and
control units,” Ranchi SP Manoj Ratan said.
Auto rickshaws drivers found it a day fit
for brisk business. “Players are earning in crore out of game, at least, we
should earn a thousand. I have already hired my auto to ferry some crazy game
lovers of my mohallah near to the stadium. If they can spend thousands on
ticket they should give us something too,” Munilal an auto driver said.
The Dhurwa stadium witnessed a torrent of
red and purple flags and the flash of cameras as the game started.
But Bose an
ardent cricket lover of his time will keep you arguing such IPL teams
represents private and profitable club headquartered at Mumbai and Bangalore
which has nothing to do with national pride and sentiment.
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