Friday, March 4, 2011
‘Preoccupied' Makan gives Games closing event a miss
RANCHI | Sunday, February 27, 2011
VIJAY DEO JHA | RANCHI
What Union Sports Minister Ajay Maken took 20 minutes to say to Chief Minister Arjun Munda for skipping the 34th National Games closing ceremony, he could have said in a single word: Suresh Kalmadi!
Maken wasn't being Sports Minister; he was ministering the political fortunes of his party and government, under constant threat from the likes of Kalmadi for their involvement in the Commonwealth Games scam.
Sources in the CMO revealed that Munda personally spoke to Maken over telephone and persuaded him to attend the closing ceremony. But Maken is reported to have explained to Munda his preoccupation with the ongoing Parliament session.
However, well-placed sources in the Congress said that the presence of any Union Congress minister in the closing ceremony - except Union Tourism Minister Subodh Kant Sahai, since he represents Ranchi, was quite unlikely due to the presence of IOA president Suresh Kalmadi, currently facing probe for his alleged involvement in the Commonwealth Games scam.
From the opening day of the Games, Kalmadi has been stationed in Jharkhand to supervise the Games that concluded on late Saturday evening after a colourful show.
Though it is customary for the Prime Minister and the President of the country to attend the opening and closing ceremony of the National Games, none turned up for Jharkhand.
Maken clarified to the electronic media that he was unable to attend the closing ceremony due to the ongoing parliamentary session, while denying reports that he did not want to share the dais with Kalamdi.
With the investigative agencies closing in on Kalmadi and, the chances of his arrest imminent; the Congress is keeping a safe distance from him.
The growing view in the Congress circle is that Kalmadi has become a liability for the party before and after the Commonwealth Games. The party has also not taken kindly to his recent attack on the Congress-led government in New Delhi for the mess in the Commonwealth Games.
"People like Kalmadi have made a dent on the fair image of the Government and the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Now, he is openly waging war against the party. Nobody wants to be associated with him, even to share a platform with him, especially Maken," a senior party official said.
RANCHI | Sunday, February 27, 2011 | Email | Print | | Back
Sporty politicians on turf to defeat each other
VIJAY DEO JHA | RANCHI
Jharkhand Olympic Association chairman, RK Anand and Union Tourism Minister and co-chairman, IOA Steering Committee, Subodh Kant Sahai, are locked in an intense battle to claim credit and success of the spectacular sports event.
During the concluding day of the Games on Saturday evening, Anand — unwillingly, though — mentioned the name of Sahai among the dignitaries present there; Sahai was quite loath to make even a passing reference Anand’s role in organising the Games.
They chose politically opposite place to watch each other—Anand with Shibu Soren, the chief of his former party JMM and, Sahai with jinxed IOA president Suresh Kalmadi, the man who badly needs a friend in this hour of crisis. The State Congress maintained a safe distance from the verbal spat of two of its leaders. But Sahai’s minions have taken up cudgels on his behalf in the past fortnight by roundly snubbing and hooting Anand.
Some days back exasperated local Congress workers in Ranchi held him up in the hotel lift for 15 minutes to pay him back for the disrespect he heaped on Sahai and the local party workers in the organisation of the National Games. The protesters let him go after a few manhandeled him and broke his costly spectacle.
Soon after the incident Anand dropped missive to the state government expressing apprehension over his life from some people. “Congress is an established national party…I don’t know who gave entry to such rogue elements in the party who assaulted me,” Anand told at a hurried Press conference.
Officially, the Congress maintained distance from this unruly show: Unofficially, they were Sahai’s men. Sources in the Congress attributed that their differences might have become public during the National Games but, the casus belli dates back when Sahai reportedly stalled Anand from getting Congress’ ticket for Rajya Sabha from Jharkhand, twice.
“Anand is known for clinging to the power. He joined JMM to get Rajya Sabha seat and he won. He jumped to the Congress with this intension. But Sahaiji stalled his nomination. Now he is trying to settle scores against him…this is basically a very personal sort of battle between the two,” a state Congress leader said.
This game had yet to come with some interesting turning points to cheer Anand and a chance to show Sahai his size. Three days back, Sahai was delegated the honour to distribute gold medal to the winner of a sport event in his capacity as Co-chairman of IOA Steering Committee. The last moment script was changed and Sahai was asked to distribute silver medal.
“Fearing the consequences of the corruption cases in the national games Anand is fawning BJP to save his skin. He is desperate to his loyalty by insulting Congress,” a close Sahay man said. On the evening of the grand opening of the national games on February 12 their differences too had a shady opening. Sahay was expecting to get boom-mike moment to claim credit for the national games which he was denied. Thankfully, Sahai got the chance to display his lung power this evening
Despite horror show of mismanagement during the game Anand will cart some of the trophies to his home. By the time the game will be over the catalogue of their differences will thicken.
Sporty politicians on turf to defeat each other
VIJAY DEO JHA | RANCHI
Jharkhand Olympic Association chairman, RK Anand and Union Tourism Minister and co-chairman, IOA Steering Committee, Subodh Kant Sahai, are locked in an intense battle to claim credit and success of the spectacular sports event.
During the concluding day of the Games on Saturday evening, Anand — unwillingly, though — mentioned the name of Sahai among the dignitaries present there; Sahai was quite loath to make even a passing reference Anand’s role in organising the Games.
They chose politically opposite place to watch each other—Anand with Shibu Soren, the chief of his former party JMM and, Sahai with jinxed IOA president Suresh Kalmadi, the man who badly needs a friend in this hour of crisis. The State Congress maintained a safe distance from the verbal spat of two of its leaders. But Sahai’s minions have taken up cudgels on his behalf in the past fortnight by roundly snubbing and hooting Anand.
Some days back exasperated local Congress workers in Ranchi held him up in the hotel lift for 15 minutes to pay him back for the disrespect he heaped on Sahai and the local party workers in the organisation of the National Games. The protesters let him go after a few manhandeled him and broke his costly spectacle.
Soon after the incident Anand dropped missive to the state government expressing apprehension over his life from some people. “Congress is an established national party…I don’t know who gave entry to such rogue elements in the party who assaulted me,” Anand told at a hurried Press conference.
Officially, the Congress maintained distance from this unruly show: Unofficially, they were Sahai’s men. Sources in the Congress attributed that their differences might have become public during the National Games but, the casus belli dates back when Sahai reportedly stalled Anand from getting Congress’ ticket for Rajya Sabha from Jharkhand, twice.
“Anand is known for clinging to the power. He joined JMM to get Rajya Sabha seat and he won. He jumped to the Congress with this intension. But Sahaiji stalled his nomination. Now he is trying to settle scores against him…this is basically a very personal sort of battle between the two,” a state Congress leader said.
This game had yet to come with some interesting turning points to cheer Anand and a chance to show Sahai his size. Three days back, Sahai was delegated the honour to distribute gold medal to the winner of a sport event in his capacity as Co-chairman of IOA Steering Committee. The last moment script was changed and Sahai was asked to distribute silver medal.
“Fearing the consequences of the corruption cases in the national games Anand is fawning BJP to save his skin. He is desperate to his loyalty by insulting Congress,” a close Sahay man said. On the evening of the grand opening of the national games on February 12 their differences too had a shady opening. Sahay was expecting to get boom-mike moment to claim credit for the national games which he was denied. Thankfully, Sahai got the chance to display his lung power this evening
Despite horror show of mismanagement during the game Anand will cart some of the trophies to his home. By the time the game will be over the catalogue of their differences will thicken.
Move to ‘coax' unwilling Das to run for Jamshedpur seat
RANCHI | Thursday, March 3, 2011
VIJAY DEO JHA/PARVINDAR BHATIA | RANCHI/JAMSHEDPUR
There is an unusual buzz in the BJP house largely surrounding Raghuwar Das, an unwilling candidate for Jamshedpur parliamentary seat. Ironically, Das' detractors are wishing and planning for his success!
Following the resignation of Chief Minister Arjun Munda, the Jamshedpur seat has gone vacant. Munda won the Kharsawan Assembly by-election. Known for their mutual resentment and opposition to each other - Munda and Das have left no effort to cut down each other's political size.
The Jamshedpur episode seems to be coming full circle once again. In 2009 general election, Das as the state BJP head had successfully pushed Munda out of State politics by persuading central BJP to field him from Jamshedpur. Das did it with an eye to the Assembly election, fearing that Munda's presence would prevent him from extending his sway.
Das' master stroke hit Munda perfectly, but it was short-lived to make any impact. Munda manoeuvered his comeback in State politics and formed the coalition government with the old combine that had led to the fall of the then Shibu Soren Government.
But fielding Das is subject to several factors of coalition politics and the number of desperate and unemployed faces in the BJP that are nudging to be considered for the seat.
After supporting the BJP and Munda in Kharsawan against the mounting Opposition assault, the JMM now has demanded BJP to support it in Jamshedpur. Even in the BJP it will not be easy to sort out the competing clamour from an exhaustive catalogue. The Election Commission of India is yet to announce the schedule for Jamshedpur.
State BJP president Dineshananda Goswami, former MLA Dinesh Sarangi, Saryu Rai and many others are believed to be in the race. Das may hope for more confusion and chaos on the party and, coalition front over Jamshedpur, before his adversaries come forward with innocent looks and devious script against him.
Sources in BP said that a group is silently working behind the scenes to push Das for Jamshedpur, using the same old argument which Das' camp had once used for Munda for Jamshedpur.
"Das could undoubtedly prove the strongest candidate of the BJP for Jamshedpur seat. But then, it is premature to make any comment," a close Munda man said guardedly.
It is not that Das has no inkling and fear of this design. He feigns ignorance though. "This may be the talk of the town. People might have been talking about me…I do not know what is going on the party front," Das told The Pioneer.
But Das has been advised not to succumb to any pressure that primarily aims to clear the field for Munda. By shunting him out of the State politics to the national level, Das will have no role to play. Munda may get premium benefit in the long run but his trusted lieutenant like Amarpreet Singh Kale, BJP spokesperson, have set sight on Das' constituency Jamshedpur (East).
Failing to prevent Munda from becoming CM of the coalition government, last year, Das was subdued after receiving condemnation from party's central leadership. To his credit, Das has prevented a total polarisation of the state BJP in favour of Munda that often prostrates when asked to bend.
Noone killed Nirupama
Journalist Nirupama forced to commit suicide?
RANCHI | Thursday, March 3, 2011
VIJAY DEO JHA | RANCHI
After a botched autopsy and a thoroughly unprofessional investigation, the Koderma police stumbled finally to report that Delhi-based journalist Nirupama Pathak was not murdered but had committed suicide.
The police on Wednesday appealed to the Koderma CGM court to issue arrest warrant against Nirupama's boyfriend Priyabhansu Ranjan, her father Dharmendra Pathak, mother Sudha Pathak and two brothers Salil Pathak and Samrendra Pathak for instigating her to commit suicide.
Addressing a Press conference, the Koderma SP Kranti Kumar informed the media and said that prayer for warrants has been made against these persons. Nevertheless, Sudha was the lone accused in this case coming out of jail after judicial custody.
One of the sensational cases of last year, 22-year-old Nirupama, working with Business Standard was found dead under suspicious circumstance at her native house in Jhumri Tallayia in April last.
Nirupama was three months pregnant with Ranjan's child, her classmate at IIMC, New Delhi.
The doctors conducting post mortem on her body concluded it was a case of smothering. But they never preserved the viscera and foetus that could prove to be vital during the investigations. Questions were raised over the authenticity of the report after doctors admitted that they were not trained to conduct post mortem. National media termed it to be a case of honour killing. Ranjan and media even piloted a sustained campaign in New Delhi with candle march to punish the culprits. But a report by AIIMS experts silenced all terming it as a case of suicide.
Nirupama wanted to marry Ranjan much against the wishes of her family. And the evidences suggest that Nirupama during her stay at her home had sent many SMSs to Ranjan that her family was pressurising her to abandon her marriage plan. Ranjan did not respond to any.
Soon after her death, Ranjan took away her laptop from her New Delhi residence, as he used to keep the duplicate key to her flat, and erased the data. It led the police to suspect Ranjan, a native of Darbhanga district in Bihar. People close to him said that Ranjan never informed his family about his intimate relations with the deceased journalist.
Noone killed Nirupama
Journalist Nirupama forced to commit suicide?
RANCHI | Thursday, March 3, 2011
VIJAY DEO JHA | RANCHI
After a botched autopsy and a thoroughly unprofessional investigation, the Koderma police stumbled finally to report that Delhi-based journalist Nirupama Pathak was not murdered but had committed suicide.
The police on Wednesday appealed to the Koderma CGM court to issue arrest warrant against Nirupama's boyfriend Priyabhansu Ranjan, her father Dharmendra Pathak, mother Sudha Pathak and two brothers Salil Pathak and Samrendra Pathak for instigating her to commit suicide.
Addressing a Press conference, the Koderma SP Kranti Kumar informed the media and said that prayer for warrants has been made against these persons. Nevertheless, Sudha was the lone accused in this case coming out of jail after judicial custody.
One of the sensational cases of last year, 22-year-old Nirupama, working with Business Standard was found dead under suspicious circumstance at her native house in Jhumri Tallayia in April last.
Nirupama was three months pregnant with Ranjan's child, her classmate at IIMC, New Delhi.
The doctors conducting post mortem on her body concluded it was a case of smothering. But they never preserved the viscera and foetus that could prove to be vital during the investigations. Questions were raised over the authenticity of the report after doctors admitted that they were not trained to conduct post mortem. National media termed it to be a case of honour killing. Ranjan and media even piloted a sustained campaign in New Delhi with candle march to punish the culprits. But a report by AIIMS experts silenced all terming it as a case of suicide.
Nirupama wanted to marry Ranjan much against the wishes of her family. And the evidences suggest that Nirupama during her stay at her home had sent many SMSs to Ranjan that her family was pressurising her to abandon her marriage plan. Ranjan did not respond to any.
Soon after her death, Ranjan took away her laptop from her New Delhi residence, as he used to keep the duplicate key to her flat, and erased the data. It led the police to suspect Ranjan, a native of Darbhanga district in Bihar. People close to him said that Ranjan never informed his family about his intimate relations with the deceased journalist.
He coughed twice but nothing clear over corruption case against CS
VIJAY DEO JHA
RANCHI
Chief Minister Arjun Munda coughed twice to get ‘pitch perfect’ to answer Opposition’s charges, but then, he offered nothing tactile over corruption case against Chief Secretary Ashok Kumar Singh, whose removal the Opposition sought vehemently.
As united Opposition continued to demand the removal of Singh it demanded Munda to clear the stand of the government, even on Thursday, the first half of ongoing budget session was clearly Opposition’s show.
Rushing to the Well and designating Congress MLA Sawna Lakra as the Speaker Opposition ran a parallel session inside the House as the session started. Speaker CP Singh took strong exception to this and suspended four Congress MLAs; Chandraekhar Dubey, KN Tripathi, Sawna Lakra and Yogendra Saw and one JVM MLA Pradeep Yadav for rest of the days of the budget session. Amid din and chaos nothing was audible except Speaker hurriedly announcing “the House has been adjourned.”
Exasperated Yadav alleged the Speaker for blatant partisan. “Speaker seems to have fallen in the pocket of the government. He was expected to safeguard Opposition’s democratic right,” he said. As the Opposition continued to rant and raze treasury’s robust lungs, Satyanand Jha Batul, Umashankar Yadav Akela, and Raja Peter, too proved feeble voices whose service the treasury bench badly required.
Sensing probably, the suspension could cement Opposition’s unity against the government the BJP MLA Raghwar Das requested Singh to revoke their suspension.
The Opposition returned to the House in the second half of the session to take part in the debate over the speech of the Governor MOH Farook. But CS’ removal continued to be the signature tune of the Opposition. Thick charges often flew from the Opposition against Munda for protecting CS despite the Bihar Government sought permission from its Jharkhand counterpart to grant permission to prosecute him in one of the vigilance cases against him during the time undivided Bihar.
“If a corrupt official like Singh continues to hold such an important position in the government, fingers have been raised on the intention of the CM too. We want to know it from him,” a joint chorus of the Opposition was loud and clear.
Yadav was leading a precision attack on the government. “Munda had not granted permission to prosecute him in 2005 against Singh when he (Munda) was Chief Minister. Even today he is doing the same,” he said.
The Opposition had come prepared with voluminous documents to substantiate charges against CS as well as the list of his properties. In 2005 when Munda was the Chief Minister he had denied prosecution against Singh.
And when Munda rose to reply he was interrupted by frequent interruptions. “Our stand against corruption is well known. Opposition has raised certain issue,” Munda said.
He did not list his own burden for not granting permission: political, personal or otherwise. He simply placed onus on certain legal issues. “The place of occurrence of the case is undivided Bihar. We need to look into these aspects also. We will take legal opinion,” he said.
He pocked fun at the Opposition for running a histrionic show. “Sometimes anxiety level goes high. I understand.” It rang true for Munda too, he had counted too much upon his sore vertebra against Opposition’s formidable spine.
VIJAY DEO JHA
RANCHI
Chief Minister Arjun Munda coughed twice to get ‘pitch perfect’ to answer Opposition’s charges, but then, he offered nothing tactile over corruption case against Chief Secretary Ashok Kumar Singh, whose removal the Opposition sought vehemently.
As united Opposition continued to demand the removal of Singh it demanded Munda to clear the stand of the government, even on Thursday, the first half of ongoing budget session was clearly Opposition’s show.
Rushing to the Well and designating Congress MLA Sawna Lakra as the Speaker Opposition ran a parallel session inside the House as the session started. Speaker CP Singh took strong exception to this and suspended four Congress MLAs; Chandraekhar Dubey, KN Tripathi, Sawna Lakra and Yogendra Saw and one JVM MLA Pradeep Yadav for rest of the days of the budget session. Amid din and chaos nothing was audible except Speaker hurriedly announcing “the House has been adjourned.”
Exasperated Yadav alleged the Speaker for blatant partisan. “Speaker seems to have fallen in the pocket of the government. He was expected to safeguard Opposition’s democratic right,” he said. As the Opposition continued to rant and raze treasury’s robust lungs, Satyanand Jha Batul, Umashankar Yadav Akela, and Raja Peter, too proved feeble voices whose service the treasury bench badly required.
Sensing probably, the suspension could cement Opposition’s unity against the government the BJP MLA Raghwar Das requested Singh to revoke their suspension.
The Opposition returned to the House in the second half of the session to take part in the debate over the speech of the Governor MOH Farook. But CS’ removal continued to be the signature tune of the Opposition. Thick charges often flew from the Opposition against Munda for protecting CS despite the Bihar Government sought permission from its Jharkhand counterpart to grant permission to prosecute him in one of the vigilance cases against him during the time undivided Bihar.
“If a corrupt official like Singh continues to hold such an important position in the government, fingers have been raised on the intention of the CM too. We want to know it from him,” a joint chorus of the Opposition was loud and clear.
Yadav was leading a precision attack on the government. “Munda had not granted permission to prosecute him in 2005 against Singh when he (Munda) was Chief Minister. Even today he is doing the same,” he said.
The Opposition had come prepared with voluminous documents to substantiate charges against CS as well as the list of his properties. In 2005 when Munda was the Chief Minister he had denied prosecution against Singh.
And when Munda rose to reply he was interrupted by frequent interruptions. “Our stand against corruption is well known. Opposition has raised certain issue,” Munda said.
He did not list his own burden for not granting permission: political, personal or otherwise. He simply placed onus on certain legal issues. “The place of occurrence of the case is undivided Bihar. We need to look into these aspects also. We will take legal opinion,” he said.
He pocked fun at the Opposition for running a histrionic show. “Sometimes anxiety level goes high. I understand.” It rang true for Munda too, he had counted too much upon his sore vertebra against Opposition’s formidable spine.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Opp charges BJP with using money, muscle
RANCHI | Thursday, February 10, 2011
VIJAY DEO JHA | RANCHI
The Election Commission office on Wednesday was deluged with complaints from Congress-JVM combine, alleging that Chief Minister and BJP candidate Arjun Munda was deploying the dirty tricks department to win Kharsawan Assembly bypoll.
Wednesday evening a delegation of Opposition MLAs, led by Congress spokesperson Radhakrishna Kishore; met Assistant Electoral Officer, Anjani Kumar Mishra, and handed over a list of complaints over the misuse of money and muscle by Munda’s men.
Opposition blamed the Commission for failing to assure free and fair election and announced ‘to sit on demonstration’ in front of the Commission’s office on election day (Thursday), to lodge their protest.
Mishra assured them to look into the matter and said that the election will be conducted free and fair.
The BJP chucked the allegation in the bin as “false and fabricated,” and rubbed salt in Opposition’s wound. “They have conceded defeat before the election as the public mandate is on the side of Mundaji,” State BJP spokesperson Pradeep Sinha said.
He rejected the charges as baseless and defended the Commission as a sacred and vigilant institution committed to conduct free and fair election.
Kishore at a Press conference listed the complaints that read like a chargesheet. “The BJP has deployed criminals to win this election. Voters are either terrorised or beseeched to vote for Munda which is well in the knowledge of the local administration,” Kishore said.
“The sorry part it seems is that Commission’s writ runs no more in Kharsawan. We have made at least a dozen complaints to the Commission about the incidences where the Opposition leaders and workers were threatened and harassed,” he said.
In one of the cases of political clash the Kharsawan BJP leader Sadhu Charan Mahato is alleged to have thrashed one Lal Babu Sardar, a JVM worker at Gamharia block under Ranamati village on Thursday.
Kishore went on to say: “People like Sadhu are taking law in their hands because administration has closed its eyes.” Yesterday he had manhandled party’s Gamhariya block president, Lakshman Mahato, and one Sushen Mahato for canvassing in favour of the JVM candidate Dashrath Gagrai aka Krishna Gagrai.
The JVM released its fury and complaints against the BJP and Munda. These are yet to be confirmed as no official was ready to speak.
Charge number one: On Wednesday, JVM’s election in-charge Ramesh Rahi claimed, security forces detained four Scorpio vehicles and seized five rifles at Sinni More in Kharsawan. They were released later and the matter was hushed-up, he alleged.
Charge number two: Two trucks laden with rice were detained in Khutpani block. These were meant to be distributed among people by the BJP, he charged.
Charge number three: Munda’s brother-in-law Suvash has been trying to influence the voters with wads of currency in the area around Dalbhanga, Selahatu and Giluwa in Kharsawan.
Charge number four: State’s Excise Minister Raja Peter has been camping in Kharsawan and using his official position which is against the Election code.
Charge number five: Criminal elements supporting BJP given free hand by the administration.
Back in Ranchi, the day witnessed charges and countercharges, while it was all about political manoeuvering in Kharsawan. It is over to Kharsawan where battle lines are drawn.
RANCHI | Friday, February 11, 2011
No jubilation in Kharsawan, only anxious wait for result
RANCHI | Friday, February 11, 2011
VIJAY DEO JHA | RANCHI
Kharsawan returned with 70 per cent of total poll’ will be the banner headline of the newspapers but, do miss the news that neither camp- the BJP and JVM-Congress Opposition -throw any celebration party after the polling was over.
The Opposition, though, under a well-planned strategy staged ‘sit-in-demonstration,’ on polling day (Thursday) alleging misuse of state machinery by the Chief Minister and BJP candidate Arjun Munda. But, it returned satisfied this evening and termed the election free and fair.
“Barring a few incidents it was largely a free and fair election. We have offered a close contest to the BJP. The poll pattern offers no such clue to announce the winner and the loser. It is a fifty-fifty game,” Congress spokesperson Radhakrishna Kishore told The Pioneer.
The BJP camp conceded the same, though privately, that the day did not offer hands down win to Munda. “We are sure about his victory, but not about the margin,” a senior BJP leader claimed with muted confidence.
Kharsawan, after all, is the home constituency of Munda where he completed his internship in politics and rose to become Chief Minister of Jharkhand. Every election he contested from Kharsawan, he vanquished his opponents with phenomenal margin. And this time too, Munda-camp expected him to rout his opponent with this miracle.
Even neutral observers like Indranil Sinha who closely watched the fast-changing Kharsawan poll scenario opined that the margin could be around 6,000 to 15,000 votes.
“A swing of around two to three per cent of vote holds the key to the success of a candidate. Munda is likely to win but not with a huge margin,” Sinha said soon after the polling was over.
Kharsawan spread in five blocks-Kharsawan, Kuchai, Khutpani, Gamharia and Saraikela, witnessed a close contest between Arjun Munda of the BJP and Opposition-backed candidate Dashrath aka Krishna Gagrai.
The JVM sources claimed having complete sway over the BJP in Kutpani block which has 51 booths. “Here we have been able to garner around 70 per cent of the total votes,” JVM’s election in charge Ramesh Rahi told The Pioneer. The JVM did not voice similar claims over Kharsawan where Munda and BJP remained the only signature tune of the day.
About the rest of the three blocks - Kuchai, Khutpani, Gamharia and Saraikela; both BJP and JVM leaders made their own claims. But none is sure on who is going to be the casualty of voters’ backlash.
On record, both the camps have come to interpret the high voter turnout as an indicator of their victory and privately, also the cause of their fear. JVM chief Babulal Marandi had planned a fine strategy to reduce his arch rival Munda from Arjun to Abhimanyu. But the news trickling from the battlefield is that Munda succeeded in frustrating Marandi with his well-knit team of poll managers on the polling day.
As silence descended over Kharsawan, worried faces were busy assessing the losses and gains in the poll battle. The anxious wait will end next Thursday.
No jubilation in Kharsawan, only anxious wait for result
RANCHI | Friday, February 11, 2011
VIJAY DEO JHA | RANCHI
Kharsawan returned with 70 per cent of total poll’ will be the banner headline of the newspapers but, do miss the news that neither camp- the BJP and JVM-Congress Opposition -throw any celebration party after the polling was over.
The Opposition, though, under a well-planned strategy staged ‘sit-in-demonstration,’ on polling day (Thursday) alleging misuse of state machinery by the Chief Minister and BJP candidate Arjun Munda. But, it returned satisfied this evening and termed the election free and fair.
“Barring a few incidents it was largely a free and fair election. We have offered a close contest to the BJP. The poll pattern offers no such clue to announce the winner and the loser. It is a fifty-fifty game,” Congress spokesperson Radhakrishna Kishore told The Pioneer.
The BJP camp conceded the same, though privately, that the day did not offer hands down win to Munda. “We are sure about his victory, but not about the margin,” a senior BJP leader claimed with muted confidence.
Kharsawan, after all, is the home constituency of Munda where he completed his internship in politics and rose to become Chief Minister of Jharkhand. Every election he contested from Kharsawan, he vanquished his opponents with phenomenal margin. And this time too, Munda-camp expected him to rout his opponent with this miracle.
Even neutral observers like Indranil Sinha who closely watched the fast-changing Kharsawan poll scenario opined that the margin could be around 6,000 to 15,000 votes.
“A swing of around two to three per cent of vote holds the key to the success of a candidate. Munda is likely to win but not with a huge margin,” Sinha said soon after the polling was over.
Kharsawan spread in five blocks-Kharsawan, Kuchai, Khutpani, Gamharia and Saraikela, witnessed a close contest between Arjun Munda of the BJP and Opposition-backed candidate Dashrath aka Krishna Gagrai.
The JVM sources claimed having complete sway over the BJP in Kutpani block which has 51 booths. “Here we have been able to garner around 70 per cent of the total votes,” JVM’s election in charge Ramesh Rahi told The Pioneer. The JVM did not voice similar claims over Kharsawan where Munda and BJP remained the only signature tune of the day.
About the rest of the three blocks - Kuchai, Khutpani, Gamharia and Saraikela; both BJP and JVM leaders made their own claims. But none is sure on who is going to be the casualty of voters’ backlash.
On record, both the camps have come to interpret the high voter turnout as an indicator of their victory and privately, also the cause of their fear. JVM chief Babulal Marandi had planned a fine strategy to reduce his arch rival Munda from Arjun to Abhimanyu. But the news trickling from the battlefield is that Munda succeeded in frustrating Marandi with his well-knit team of poll managers on the polling day.
As silence descended over Kharsawan, worried faces were busy assessing the losses and gains in the poll battle. The anxious wait will end next Thursday.
One who steal the show and those who laggs behind
VIJAY DEO JHA
RANCHI
Faces were teeming on the ceremony day of the National Games; dispatching wave of pride among many citizens and that ultimately won applause from the national as
“pitched-perfect” colour show.
The boiling tide in the run-up seems to have turned and if the streak can be maintained till the closing ceremony is over, those at the receiving end a few days ago could consolidate their once-shaky positions.
Our corresnpondet Vijay Deo Jha attempts to know about the looser and gainer of this evening show.
The Munda Sudesh tandom
They must have arrived a bit nervous, as the route to the opening ceremony was still littered with horror stories of mismanagement and delays. But as they sat down to watch — and the country looked on —they would have sensed confidence, and then
pride, squeeze away their apprehensions. The evening spared them any embarrassments. Munda collected more applause and clapping of the audiences for this great show than what he could have got during his election rally in Kharasawan. He roared in full bass Jai Jharkhand and Bharat Mata Ki Jai: the audience roared too. The BJP led coalition government too, could reap dividends if the Games win the perception
race. They could now think to claim that their team produced quite a humdinger even if critics and doubters were predicting they would deliver a dud. If the high stays intact till the event is over, the Munda will also be able to return to the “development of Jharkhand” theme that he crooned and cackled in Kharsawan assembly election.
Munda, please do not ignore your deputy chief minister Sudesh Kumar
Mahato.
Deepika, the archer
As soon as this little Jharkhandi girl started running with games’ torch she was given standing ovation with endless flash of cameras. Everybody wanted to run with her.
Jharkhand Olympic Association chairman RK Anand
Anand mustered courage and logic that politicians were too responsible for delay in conducting the game on time if it were postponed six times in the past. Political instability in Jharkhand he referred as one of the reason that hampered the game.
Loosers
Tainted president of India Olympic Association Suresh Kalmadi was asked to conclude his speech in do sabad (few words). He rose to speak but greeted with jeer for his involvment in the Commonwealth Game scam. He put a brave face and forged on to finish his unendurably listless text he had brought along.
But Kalmadi had proved himself a man of durable hide, unbothered by scam or scandal or stench. He was speaking much in the fashion of a monarch who is numbering his days but unwilling to accept it.
Governor MOH Farook ended with a contrived, and rather unedifying, flourish of his hand as he exhorted the Games to begin. It was a gesture that belonged more to a stand-up magician’s repertoire, less to a head of state.
Doordarshan
Doordarshan approached the event much in the fashion of classic PSU. Having exclusive right of telecast; it afforded to mess with it. It was really a delayed-live telecast, behind by nearly five minutes. No concept of syncing stadium lights with cameras.
Slideshow
The story of great Indian melting pot — came with sheer excess of lights, sounds, colour and variety. Anaemic and insipid it looked in the day. But when it burst and
cracked it warmed the evening turning the open sky into a flamboyant fiesta of game and gaiety with starlit and stardom rocking the stage.
VIJAY DEO JHA
RANCHI
Faces were teeming on the ceremony day of the National Games; dispatching wave of pride among many citizens and that ultimately won applause from the national as
“pitched-perfect” colour show.
The boiling tide in the run-up seems to have turned and if the streak can be maintained till the closing ceremony is over, those at the receiving end a few days ago could consolidate their once-shaky positions.
Our corresnpondet Vijay Deo Jha attempts to know about the looser and gainer of this evening show.
The Munda Sudesh tandom
They must have arrived a bit nervous, as the route to the opening ceremony was still littered with horror stories of mismanagement and delays. But as they sat down to watch — and the country looked on —they would have sensed confidence, and then
pride, squeeze away their apprehensions. The evening spared them any embarrassments. Munda collected more applause and clapping of the audiences for this great show than what he could have got during his election rally in Kharasawan. He roared in full bass Jai Jharkhand and Bharat Mata Ki Jai: the audience roared too. The BJP led coalition government too, could reap dividends if the Games win the perception
race. They could now think to claim that their team produced quite a humdinger even if critics and doubters were predicting they would deliver a dud. If the high stays intact till the event is over, the Munda will also be able to return to the “development of Jharkhand” theme that he crooned and cackled in Kharsawan assembly election.
Munda, please do not ignore your deputy chief minister Sudesh Kumar
Mahato.
Deepika, the archer
As soon as this little Jharkhandi girl started running with games’ torch she was given standing ovation with endless flash of cameras. Everybody wanted to run with her.
Jharkhand Olympic Association chairman RK Anand
Anand mustered courage and logic that politicians were too responsible for delay in conducting the game on time if it were postponed six times in the past. Political instability in Jharkhand he referred as one of the reason that hampered the game.
Loosers
Tainted president of India Olympic Association Suresh Kalmadi was asked to conclude his speech in do sabad (few words). He rose to speak but greeted with jeer for his involvment in the Commonwealth Game scam. He put a brave face and forged on to finish his unendurably listless text he had brought along.
But Kalmadi had proved himself a man of durable hide, unbothered by scam or scandal or stench. He was speaking much in the fashion of a monarch who is numbering his days but unwilling to accept it.
Governor MOH Farook ended with a contrived, and rather unedifying, flourish of his hand as he exhorted the Games to begin. It was a gesture that belonged more to a stand-up magician’s repertoire, less to a head of state.
Doordarshan
Doordarshan approached the event much in the fashion of classic PSU. Having exclusive right of telecast; it afforded to mess with it. It was really a delayed-live telecast, behind by nearly five minutes. No concept of syncing stadium lights with cameras.
Slideshow
The story of great Indian melting pot — came with sheer excess of lights, sounds, colour and variety. Anaemic and insipid it looked in the day. But when it burst and
cracked it warmed the evening turning the open sky into a flamboyant fiesta of game and gaiety with starlit and stardom rocking the stage.
‘Focus on critical areas of long term development’
RANCHI | Thursday, February 17, 2011
VIJAY DEO JHA | RANCHI
The special economic advisory committee headed by noted economist, Bibek Debroy, submitted an interim report on Jharkhand to Chief Minister Arjun Munda on Wednesday.
Debroy, however, refused to divulge any detail and the recommendations that he, and two other members of the committee — Laveesh Bhandari and Kumar Vishal -— have made about the socio-economic development of Jharkhand. "Let me submit the detailed report which we will submit on March 7," he told the media.
But chief secretary, AK Singh, who spilled the beans on the report, said later that the report has covered different aspects of governance and the existing system.
For example, the committee has advised the government against filling-up vacancies of the different departments; pending since the last decade, in one-go. The committee's contention is that the posts be filled in a phased manner so that the job opportunity remains available. The report logically argued that in case of mass fill-up of posts it may create stagnation for another one decade which will not be good for the State, Singh said,.
A copy of the report has been sent to the Ministers and Secretaries of the departments to look into the feasibility of 'phase-wise recruitment.' The report has also highlighted the need to improve the functioning of the police department through a modernisation process.
There are certain issues that the committee has suggested the State Government to raise with the Central Government like ad valorem tax, royalty over minerals and compensation for deforestation.
Commending the report as 'outstanding' Munda said the committee prepared the report after visiting different parts of the State while meeting a cross-section of society.
As Munda is keen to turn Jharkhand into a power hub, the report has offered him certain nitty-gritty to realise his ambition. For instance the report has put stress upon creating no-load shedding zone. The report has dwelt in detail over how the State Government should utilise its existing internal resources.
And as the Budget Session of the State Assembly is scheduled ahead, some of the suggestions of the report may find echo in the budget also.
"This time we are planning to expand the 'plan size' of the budget. We will focus upon key and critical areas of long term development," Munda said.
Countdown has begun: Who will have the last laugh?
RANCHI | Thursday, February 17, 2011
VIJAY DEO JHA | RANCHI
A strange, almost eerie silence seems to mark the run-up to the counting day of the Kharsawan by-poll. For once the warring camps have fallen silent, locked in meditation and prayer, and a fervent wish to emerge winner. Interestingly though, there were no tall claims of victory, not even in a whisper!
Chief Minister and BJP candidate, Arjun Munda, is caught in a tough battle with the Opposition-supported JVM candidate Dashrath Gagrai aka Krishan Gagrai. Kharsawan poll is bound to be the most bitterly-fought affair of the State following Tamar Assembly, where the then Chief Minister Shibu Soren had faced the most humiliating defeat of his political career, the wound of which he nurses even today.
Munda's bete noire, Babulal Marandi of the JVM, had assiduously done all to corner his rival. After all, Marandi had tried his best to smother Munda by raising contentious issues like CNT Act, PESA Act, displacement of tribals in his (Munda) own territory. Munda countered and convinced his electorate about a probable plot of the Opposition to put a break on the development of the State which he is chauffeuring. Whether Marandi' poll mechanism will work or not, will be known by Thursday afternoon when the counting gets over.
Not only the fate of Munda, but the also the fate of the State's politics will be decided in this election. The fine sheet of the election result will be nothing but a document to establish whether Kharsawan belongs to Munda - partially or totally. He laboured hard to maintain his impressive record of winning the election in Kharsawan by a phenomenal margin. Speculations of marginal fall in his winning tally has come to disturb the BJP, nevertheless, his close aides are hopeful that this time too he will win with an impressive record.
If Munda wins he can claim having got the mandate for development. For Marandi, even the defeat, will be a trophy being the only robust Opposition with a lethal potential to tame and maim Munda and his party in the coming days.
To cry or to laugh, is a classic Congress conundrum, the JVM has already pushed its ally to the wall by wresting Kharsawan seat. Congress' role as a credible Opposition will be at stake in the coming days too. Who will have last laugh? Guess?
RANCHI | Friday, February 18, 2011 | Email | Print | | Back
Down but not out, Munda remains Arjun in Kharsawan battle
February 24, 2011 3:06:46 PM
VIJAY DEO JHA / PARVINDAR BHAT | RANCHI / JAMSHEDPUR
If Kharsawan largely decided to stay with BJP candidate and chief minister Arjun Munda, it did not reject JVM chief Babulal Marandi either.
Munda on Thursday; won the Kharsawan by-election against his only rival, Dashrath Gagrai aka Krishna Gagrai of the JVM, by a modest margin of 17,366 votes. Munda netted 61,701 votes against a total poll cast of around 70 against Gagrai who ended much impressively with 44,335 votes.
The tally is much below the expectation of his own party that expected him to repeat his impressive victory for the fourth consecutive time. Munda entered into the electoral politics for the first time in 1995 as the JMM candidate when he defeated his Congress rival and stalwart, Vijay Singh Soi.
The election result has come with a bold message: Kharsawan belongs to Munda — not his party, mind you. Assembly election 2000, Munda contested from Kharsawan as the BJP candidate against Congress' Vijay Singh Soi. Voters whacked Soi so badly in the poll fray that the man withdrew from active politics thereafter. A critical edge of around 15.60 per cent over Soi had hustled him to win. He left his opponents to gnash and grind in 2005 when he defeated Congress' Kunti Soi with an unbridgeable margin of 55,334 votes.
Even in 2009, when he fielded Mangal Singh Soi - more a doorkeeper than his aide - it was Munda who was pulled the strings. In 2005, Munda had set a benchmark of victory for himself that he was wished and widely reported to maintain. But how come, the man himself did not know?
But then, politics to him is much like the game of golf that he passionately played at the Golf Club in Jamshedpur even when the counting was going on. It was even when he was trailing by a margin of 21 and 807 votes in the second and fourth round of the counting. He was perfect in pushing the ball to the hole when he registered a remarkable lead over the JVM candidate in the sixth round that he maintained till last.
Munda will not like to answer pointed posers whether the reduced winning margin, is a doctoral pulse of ground slowly turning against him.
"Margin does not matter in the winning. The election was fought by the people of Kharsawan and they have won. People have reposed faith in me and my government. My opponents had spread endless rumours during the campaign. They have been answered by the people," he told the media.
After the result, images started rolling on the television screen; Marandi and Munda engaged in a verbal duel claiming people on their side.
"Then why his ministers were camping for him if he claims people fought on his side. We had no base in Kharsawan, yet we netted so many votes against him even though our candidate is a rookie," Marandi said displaying no sign of defeat.
Privately, Marandi's observation will disturb Munda when he sits down to figure out the poll puzzle. But right now, he can draw solace in the fact that his winning has given a new lease of life to his government.
Munda in fact, made no mistake in discerning Marandi's strategy to engage him on key and contentious issues: PESA Act, CNT Act, displacement of tribals in the name of establishing industry.
But then, Munda dismayed Marandi, the chief architect of Opposition unity at the end of the day. Munda was actively supported and canvassed during campaigning by his alliance partners in the government: JMM, AJSU and JD (U).
The election result has come with a premium for Marandi, he can encash it in the coming days. At least, the result has firmly pronounced the future role of the JVM as a credible Opposition to BJP.
The election of Kharsawan is not the first and the last of its kind. On Thursday, Munda's deputy and JMM leader Hemant Soren congratulated Munda on behalf of his party and president, Shibu Soren.
"The combine effort of the alliance partners worked in the election. We expect him to work for development. We expect him to honour the coalition dharma in the coming days," Hemant said.
You can give expectation another name: Jamshedpur parliamentary constituency. After supporting Munda for Kharsawan, the JMM has now demanded Jamshedpur which will be vacated soon after Munda resigns from here.
Down but not out, Munda remains Arjun in Kharsawan battle
February 24, 2011 3:06:46 PM
VIJAY DEO JHA / PARVINDAR BHAT | RANCHI / JAMSHEDPUR
If Kharsawan largely decided to stay with BJP candidate and chief minister Arjun Munda, it did not reject JVM chief Babulal Marandi either.
Munda on Thursday; won the Kharsawan by-election against his only rival, Dashrath Gagrai aka Krishna Gagrai of the JVM, by a modest margin of 17,366 votes. Munda netted 61,701 votes against a total poll cast of around 70 against Gagrai who ended much impressively with 44,335 votes.
The tally is much below the expectation of his own party that expected him to repeat his impressive victory for the fourth consecutive time. Munda entered into the electoral politics for the first time in 1995 as the JMM candidate when he defeated his Congress rival and stalwart, Vijay Singh Soi.
The election result has come with a bold message: Kharsawan belongs to Munda — not his party, mind you. Assembly election 2000, Munda contested from Kharsawan as the BJP candidate against Congress' Vijay Singh Soi. Voters whacked Soi so badly in the poll fray that the man withdrew from active politics thereafter. A critical edge of around 15.60 per cent over Soi had hustled him to win. He left his opponents to gnash and grind in 2005 when he defeated Congress' Kunti Soi with an unbridgeable margin of 55,334 votes.
Even in 2009, when he fielded Mangal Singh Soi - more a doorkeeper than his aide - it was Munda who was pulled the strings. In 2005, Munda had set a benchmark of victory for himself that he was wished and widely reported to maintain. But how come, the man himself did not know?
But then, politics to him is much like the game of golf that he passionately played at the Golf Club in Jamshedpur even when the counting was going on. It was even when he was trailing by a margin of 21 and 807 votes in the second and fourth round of the counting. He was perfect in pushing the ball to the hole when he registered a remarkable lead over the JVM candidate in the sixth round that he maintained till last.
Munda will not like to answer pointed posers whether the reduced winning margin, is a doctoral pulse of ground slowly turning against him.
"Margin does not matter in the winning. The election was fought by the people of Kharsawan and they have won. People have reposed faith in me and my government. My opponents had spread endless rumours during the campaign. They have been answered by the people," he told the media.
After the result, images started rolling on the television screen; Marandi and Munda engaged in a verbal duel claiming people on their side.
"Then why his ministers were camping for him if he claims people fought on his side. We had no base in Kharsawan, yet we netted so many votes against him even though our candidate is a rookie," Marandi said displaying no sign of defeat.
Privately, Marandi's observation will disturb Munda when he sits down to figure out the poll puzzle. But right now, he can draw solace in the fact that his winning has given a new lease of life to his government.
Munda in fact, made no mistake in discerning Marandi's strategy to engage him on key and contentious issues: PESA Act, CNT Act, displacement of tribals in the name of establishing industry.
But then, Munda dismayed Marandi, the chief architect of Opposition unity at the end of the day. Munda was actively supported and canvassed during campaigning by his alliance partners in the government: JMM, AJSU and JD (U).
The election result has come with a premium for Marandi, he can encash it in the coming days. At least, the result has firmly pronounced the future role of the JVM as a credible Opposition to BJP.
The election of Kharsawan is not the first and the last of its kind. On Thursday, Munda's deputy and JMM leader Hemant Soren congratulated Munda on behalf of his party and president, Shibu Soren.
"The combine effort of the alliance partners worked in the election. We expect him to work for development. We expect him to honour the coalition dharma in the coming days," Hemant said.
You can give expectation another name: Jamshedpur parliamentary constituency. After supporting Munda for Kharsawan, the JMM has now demanded Jamshedpur which will be vacated soon after Munda resigns from here.
Munda mocks at Marandi after Kharsawan triumph
RANCHI | Saturday, February 19, 2011
VIJAY DEO JHA | RANCHI
BJP Chief Minister Arjun Munda wriggled out of dozens of public celebrations following his victory in Kharsawan on his way from Jamshedpur and, fired a fresh salvo against JVM chief Babulal Marandi, here in Ranchi, on Friday.
Munda did not name Marandi in his thirty minutes of interaction with the media and his party workers but, he made it amply clear that the person he loathed to name was Marandi. Munda on Thursday defeated Opposition-backed JVM candidate Dashrath Gagrai aka Krishna Gagrai with a modest margin of around 17,000 votes.
"We have won the election with the support of the people, despite rumours and confusions being spread by some people to divide the electorate. They have got an apt reply," he said.
Resorting to puns Munda lampooned Marandi for spreading confusion over the CNT Act, PESA and other issues. "The government has scraped CNT Act to allow the loot of the land of the tribal and others…how cheap," he quipped.
Cautioning his rivals that politicians and political parties should refrain from breaching people's trust, he flayed Marandi and the Opposition for ignoring this.
"Political parties have the right to seek support of the people over any issue. But they tried to fool the voters of Kharsawan…and were rejected and rebuffed."
On the PESA Act, under which three-tier panchayat elections in Jharkhand were held, Munda accepted that certain sections of the society might not have got adequate representation. "This aspect certainly needed to be looked into," he said, "but in Kharsawan I was surprised to see those people raising bogey over PESA Act who as MPs during 1996 had helped enactment of PESA as law in the Parliament."
This was a direct hit at former MP Sailendra Mahato who campaigned against Munda on behalf of Marandi.
"Such people spoke thousands contradictory things over PESA and CNT to different people, even forgetting that what they spoke an hour before, contradicted what they spoke an hour later."
Terming the Panchayat elections in Jharkhand as a decisive push towards women empowerment, he reckoned that around 60 of the total women population have got a direct say in the governance.
"But we never indulged in dirty politics over Panchayat election. We never laid sole claim for conducting panchayat election. It is really sorry to see them," he fumed. Promising to give a corruption free and development-oriented government in Jharkhand he promised social harmony.
Scorning Marandi for announcing the fall of Munda government a day after the Kharsawan result, and formation of the next government soon after, the CM said "Under the name of election many such people visited Kharsawan and stayed there for long and returned empty handed," he quipped.
Even as Munda was cheering the loyalists; the JVM was holding a Press conference to denounce his victory as " gross misuse of government machinery and money."
And the problem with the scribes was they could not afford to skip either of the conferences.
Old wine in a new bottle: Munda talks about changes
RANCHI | Sunday, September 12, 2010
VIJAY DEO JHA | RANCHI
There is perhaps no better person and place to get renewed promises of changes in Jharkhand than the precincts of its most famous address for four years: Old Jail Road, and its occupant Chief Minister Arjun Munda.
Soon after taking oath as the 8th CM of Jharkhand on Saturday; Munda in an exclusive talk with The Pioneer swore to demolish one idea of Jharkhand as the basket case of India, and the crafting of another.
Can Munda make a difference? Past regimes were not different. It was a free territory overran and exploited by people and politicians of all hues — scamsters and scoundrels, sycophants, in-laws and outlaws, a whole court confederacy that first put establishment out of touch with the rooted reality of the State, and then, out of power.
And 10 years down Munda has again become CM of the State: functionality for famed flair, calibre for celebrated corruption and hope for hollow hype.
“So what, Jharkhand will change,” Munda said gazing at a large portrait hung on the wall depicting natural beauty of Jharkhand. He probably wanted to hint it as the central metaphor of his reign.
Q: You had been in State politics before you moved to the national politics and became party’s national general secretary. Great hope was attached to you. And in fact you had shown right sign. Strange! Why did you decide to make a come back?
A: I am a loyal worker of the BJP. My party assigned me this job. I will take any responsibility as deemed fit by the party. I will deliver best of my capabilities.
Q: Is Arjun Munda different today and than the one in the past?
A: As my understanding and experience is concerned as a party worker, i will make an optimum use to this. I promise to remain bias in performing my duty.
Q: Have you worked out your priorities for the State after you took oath as CM?
A: At present priorities are speaking for themselves: drought, law and order. Good rain could have yielded good crops… solving a major trouble. What I think is that the State require infrastructure. Under a long term plan we need to tap and harness the human resource to enable Jharkhand to compete with global economy. Bijli, Pani sarak (BIPASA) are in priority. Projects must be planned in the light of the demographic and geographical conditions of the State.
Q:And what about corruption?
A:This is a big and serious issue…our priority will be to change the system that breeds corruption. But I think it is not the only issue one should keep himself engaged with. People of Jharkhand are forward looking. People are not concerned with corruption only.
Q: But then corruption eats away the vitals of the development?
A: See this is true it has become gangrene. We need to work together.
Q: Don’t you think the institutes like ombudsman are good and effective tools to crush corruption?
A: Yes, I will think and try all these mechanisms. But I do not believe in propaganda. Our commitment to deal with corruption is more important.
Q: Will you ask your Ministers to declare their properties to stop another Madhu Koda, Ainosh Ekka, Harinarayan Rai and Kamlesh Singh in making?
A: I always ask media what is the level of corruption. Let me ask you what is corruption? How we brand somebody as corrupt. Now tell me what media will offer me on this front.
Correspondent: Media will extend you full cooperation.
Munda: No no. It is not only about support. I personally believe that serious issues require serious deliberations. How many times you (media) questioned the logic behind supporting an independent MLA as CM of this State. What should be the criteria? National parties are responsible for the reflection of democracy and democratic system. There is only partial democracy.
Q: What messages CM Arjun Munda will like to send across scamsters, scoundrels and corrupt?
A: Law will take care of them. They will be punished according to their deeds.
Q: And bureaucracy?
A: Be ready for a transparent and functioning administration. Be responsible towards people.
Q: Maoism will be a big challenge for you to deal with.
A: I had had been raising this issue that how this problem has affected people and the States…but I was taken very lightly that time. Jharkhand is not the only State facing this problem. Can a State address this problem by taking isolated effort? You need to form an elaborate national policy. I do not criticise anybody. I will raise right points at right forums.
Q: What about Operation Green Hunt?
A: Don’t ask me all these. Ask this to Indian Government.
Q: Will you also not talk about all those Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) you had signed as CM in the past that gave you a nickname MoU CM, once. Won’t you look back?
A: Will you explain me please what happened all these four years after I stepped out so that I answer you.
Q: Industrial houses sign MoUs only to fast belt minerals and resources and then they pack off. Do you promise a fair and rational Industrial Policy?
A: Yes, there will people’s policy. Industry will automatically come. Policy will be decided while keeping the interest of the people at the centre of the policy formation.
Q: During your first tenure as CM you took your first decision to grant lifelong freebies to former CMs. What will be your first decision this time?
A: “Iss baar media ke liye karenge (This time I will do for media),” Munda laughs.
Teaching a lesson to the pseudo Gandhians
Vijay Deo Jha
Gumla
The story hadn’t occurred to us until; finally, it tormented us for not noticing.
It was like any normal day and time when we accidentally came across 70 years old Rati Tana Bhagat at village Karaundi in Gumla district arguing with the census official that he must be documented as the follower of a religion that many might not have heard, surely.
“Satt Ahimsa Gandhi Baba (truth, non-violence, Gandhi Baba),” this is my religion. Put it in your census record against the column of religion in your register.
Sweating profusely, Rati was gasping for breath probably due chronic asthma but, emphatic enough to make census officer Jitiya Oraon jittery to accommodate his religion on the census chart. Oraon told us that he is a primary school teacher and also president of Gumla Primary Teachers’ Association. Oraon was aware of the passion of Tanas for Mahatma Gandhi but he had no courage to convince them that there exists no column in the census form about the religion they insists to mention.
“I respect your sentiment and attachment for Mahatma Gandhi but there is no such column of religion in the census form,” Oraon makes last effort to find a way out. But by this time it was too late. Oraon had received overdose of mild rebuff hoping he will come to understand that how Tanas had embraced Gandhi’s movement for freedom struggle and Gandhian philosophy sans sophistry.
The old man is in no mood to compromise with his religion. Suddenly around 50 inquisitive Tana Bhagats clad in Khadi after emerging from daily prayer of Gandhi, joined the old man.
They insisted and remained firm till the poor school teacher had duly mentioned them as the follower of Satt Ahimsa Gandhi Baba religion. There may not be too many followers of the religion of this kind, before it insists to qualify officially, as a distinct religion in the Gazette of the government: a mixture of the fine elements of Hinduism, Islam, Christianity and many others. But before Oraon can pack-up and proceed they had put their thumb impression so that none could temper with their belief.
True to his name, Budhiman Tana Bhagat talked intelligently about the fast shrinking number of Tana Bhagat in Jharkhand and their problem. What Budhiman told reflected that he had some schooling as he appeared well equipped with the problem of Tanas. “We are tribal…but we follow Gandhiji as religion. There are few pockets in Lohardaga and Gumla where Tanas are now live,” he rued. Bisunpur, Ghaghra, Chnadrkop, Bamandih, Gazani, Kuru and few other he listed. There is no official record available to ascertain their number.
The British government had confiscated 3000 acres of their land as punishment for their unquestioned support for Mahatma. “Our land has not been returned…we are still to be granted cultivation right. Please tell the government about our problem. A year back government had assured us but nothing happened,” Budhiman said. The previous government of Madhu Koda had even announced to return such lands to the Tanas that did not graduate beyond the promise.
They have a long list of complaint but that does not douse their undying passion for Mahatma and his philosophy.
It is census time: Different religious bodies have regrouped to swell their number. For Tanas it was prayer time of Mahatma with clang and cymbal. Let the children of one God demand right of way and privilege over children of another God and let them ram into communal retribution. Tanas are not that.
Vijay Deo Jha
Gumla
The story hadn’t occurred to us until; finally, it tormented us for not noticing.
It was like any normal day and time when we accidentally came across 70 years old Rati Tana Bhagat at village Karaundi in Gumla district arguing with the census official that he must be documented as the follower of a religion that many might not have heard, surely.
“Satt Ahimsa Gandhi Baba (truth, non-violence, Gandhi Baba),” this is my religion. Put it in your census record against the column of religion in your register.
Sweating profusely, Rati was gasping for breath probably due chronic asthma but, emphatic enough to make census officer Jitiya Oraon jittery to accommodate his religion on the census chart. Oraon told us that he is a primary school teacher and also president of Gumla Primary Teachers’ Association. Oraon was aware of the passion of Tanas for Mahatma Gandhi but he had no courage to convince them that there exists no column in the census form about the religion they insists to mention.
“I respect your sentiment and attachment for Mahatma Gandhi but there is no such column of religion in the census form,” Oraon makes last effort to find a way out. But by this time it was too late. Oraon had received overdose of mild rebuff hoping he will come to understand that how Tanas had embraced Gandhi’s movement for freedom struggle and Gandhian philosophy sans sophistry.
The old man is in no mood to compromise with his religion. Suddenly around 50 inquisitive Tana Bhagats clad in Khadi after emerging from daily prayer of Gandhi, joined the old man.
They insisted and remained firm till the poor school teacher had duly mentioned them as the follower of Satt Ahimsa Gandhi Baba religion. There may not be too many followers of the religion of this kind, before it insists to qualify officially, as a distinct religion in the Gazette of the government: a mixture of the fine elements of Hinduism, Islam, Christianity and many others. But before Oraon can pack-up and proceed they had put their thumb impression so that none could temper with their belief.
True to his name, Budhiman Tana Bhagat talked intelligently about the fast shrinking number of Tana Bhagat in Jharkhand and their problem. What Budhiman told reflected that he had some schooling as he appeared well equipped with the problem of Tanas. “We are tribal…but we follow Gandhiji as religion. There are few pockets in Lohardaga and Gumla where Tanas are now live,” he rued. Bisunpur, Ghaghra, Chnadrkop, Bamandih, Gazani, Kuru and few other he listed. There is no official record available to ascertain their number.
The British government had confiscated 3000 acres of their land as punishment for their unquestioned support for Mahatma. “Our land has not been returned…we are still to be granted cultivation right. Please tell the government about our problem. A year back government had assured us but nothing happened,” Budhiman said. The previous government of Madhu Koda had even announced to return such lands to the Tanas that did not graduate beyond the promise.
They have a long list of complaint but that does not douse their undying passion for Mahatma and his philosophy.
It is census time: Different religious bodies have regrouped to swell their number. For Tanas it was prayer time of Mahatma with clang and cymbal. Let the children of one God demand right of way and privilege over children of another God and let them ram into communal retribution. Tanas are not that.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
The Godmothers of Bihar
Bees saal dekh liye fair ko, ab lovely ko dekh lijiye. (You’ve seen ‘fair’ for 20 years, have a look at ‘lovely’ now),” shouts a young Congress party worker into the mike and looks behind for appreciation, grinning at with his own pun. Equally happy is Lovely Anand, Congress candidate for the Allam Nagar constituency, who’s on the dais today in Chausa. The dark sunglasses don’t hide her beaming face. The crowd’s attention, however, is on the sunny sky, from where Bhojpuri matinee idol Ravi Kishen is expected to descend in a helicopter.
In 2007, a lower court sentenced Anand to life for inciting the crowd to lynch G. Krishnaiah, the Gopalganj district magistrate, at gangster Chotan Shukla’s funeral procession. She got bail from the Patna High Court. But her husband, former MP Anand Mohan Singh, is serving a life sentence in Saharsa jail for the case.
In the 1990s, Singh headed a private army which attacked supporters of reservation for the backward castes. His army went unchallenged - till Ranjan Yadav, more notorious as Pappu Yadav, emerged on the scene. It set up a clash of criminal titans and threw north Bihar’s Kosi belt into a civil war. “They clashed often in pitched battles and we reported diligently,” recalls a senior journalist who requests anonymity. They threatened and killed at will. They were Kosi’s terror twins.
Singh’s wife Anand spins her own tale: “He was not a criminal or a don. He’s a victim of a political conspiracy. He was a big fan of Bhagat Singh and Nelson Mandela - and always challenged the political establishment since he was 17.” It sounds like a rehearsed stance, and suppressed smile a giveaway of the version’s absurdness. The posters in Chausa has Anand saying: ‘Kisi ke liye ye matdaan hai; mere liye jeevan-daan hai’ (To some this is an election; for me this is a grant of life). Singh’s mother, too, features on the poster. It’s a desperate plea from the once-dreaded family.
Same coin, other side
It’s a similar story for Singh’s foe Pappu Yadav, who is also serving life in Beur jail. His wife Ranjit Ranjan is Congress’s ‘star contestant’ for the Bihariganj seat.
Ranjan’s was a Kashmiri Pandit family which converted to Sikhism. She represented Bihar in tennis while Pappu had made a name as Lalu Prasad Yadav’s henchman. “A lumpen youngster who had made himself notorious in the Saharsa-Purnea region with acts of wanton violence… He had the physique of a baby elephant and the reputation of a raving, stampeding one,” writes Sankarshan Thakur in Subaltern Saheb: Bihar and the making of Laloo Yadav.
How did she get married to a don? “Those days I used to go on a Hero Majestic cycle for practice at the New Patna Club, where he had seen me. He came home to propose, but my family took its time deciding. It went on for two years… He never misbehaved with me. I judged his character as a woman,” says Ranjan. Stories about how Yadav won over her brother first by gifting him a cricket kit are part of the lore. Wagging tongues also say that her family didn’t have much of a choice, though the wedding was performed according to the Sikh tradition.
Today, she’s the face of Pappu’s empire and wields influence in his name. Between them, the two powerful ‘godmothers’ managed six Congress tickets for their acolytes. But everyone is clear where their power flows from: their posters invariably have their husbands’ faces in the same size. And both of them seek “people’s justice” for their jailed husbands.
Once in rival camps, they were recently spotted on the same dais with Rahul Gandhi. They seem not to share the animosity of their husbands. “She is like sister to me,” says Ranjan.
People of flood-prone Kosi belt are using an apt metaphor for this duo of foes-turned-friends: “During the floods even the snake and the man will travel in the same boat.” But one knows how things may turn once the water recedes.
Courtsey HT
Bees saal dekh liye fair ko, ab lovely ko dekh lijiye. (You’ve seen ‘fair’ for 20 years, have a look at ‘lovely’ now),” shouts a young Congress party worker into the mike and looks behind for appreciation, grinning at with his own pun. Equally happy is Lovely Anand, Congress candidate for the Allam Nagar constituency, who’s on the dais today in Chausa. The dark sunglasses don’t hide her beaming face. The crowd’s attention, however, is on the sunny sky, from where Bhojpuri matinee idol Ravi Kishen is expected to descend in a helicopter.
In 2007, a lower court sentenced Anand to life for inciting the crowd to lynch G. Krishnaiah, the Gopalganj district magistrate, at gangster Chotan Shukla’s funeral procession. She got bail from the Patna High Court. But her husband, former MP Anand Mohan Singh, is serving a life sentence in Saharsa jail for the case.
In the 1990s, Singh headed a private army which attacked supporters of reservation for the backward castes. His army went unchallenged - till Ranjan Yadav, more notorious as Pappu Yadav, emerged on the scene. It set up a clash of criminal titans and threw north Bihar’s Kosi belt into a civil war. “They clashed often in pitched battles and we reported diligently,” recalls a senior journalist who requests anonymity. They threatened and killed at will. They were Kosi’s terror twins.
Singh’s wife Anand spins her own tale: “He was not a criminal or a don. He’s a victim of a political conspiracy. He was a big fan of Bhagat Singh and Nelson Mandela - and always challenged the political establishment since he was 17.” It sounds like a rehearsed stance, and suppressed smile a giveaway of the version’s absurdness. The posters in Chausa has Anand saying: ‘Kisi ke liye ye matdaan hai; mere liye jeevan-daan hai’ (To some this is an election; for me this is a grant of life). Singh’s mother, too, features on the poster. It’s a desperate plea from the once-dreaded family.
Same coin, other side
It’s a similar story for Singh’s foe Pappu Yadav, who is also serving life in Beur jail. His wife Ranjit Ranjan is Congress’s ‘star contestant’ for the Bihariganj seat.
Ranjan’s was a Kashmiri Pandit family which converted to Sikhism. She represented Bihar in tennis while Pappu had made a name as Lalu Prasad Yadav’s henchman. “A lumpen youngster who had made himself notorious in the Saharsa-Purnea region with acts of wanton violence… He had the physique of a baby elephant and the reputation of a raving, stampeding one,” writes Sankarshan Thakur in Subaltern Saheb: Bihar and the making of Laloo Yadav.
How did she get married to a don? “Those days I used to go on a Hero Majestic cycle for practice at the New Patna Club, where he had seen me. He came home to propose, but my family took its time deciding. It went on for two years… He never misbehaved with me. I judged his character as a woman,” says Ranjan. Stories about how Yadav won over her brother first by gifting him a cricket kit are part of the lore. Wagging tongues also say that her family didn’t have much of a choice, though the wedding was performed according to the Sikh tradition.
Today, she’s the face of Pappu’s empire and wields influence in his name. Between them, the two powerful ‘godmothers’ managed six Congress tickets for their acolytes. But everyone is clear where their power flows from: their posters invariably have their husbands’ faces in the same size. And both of them seek “people’s justice” for their jailed husbands.
Once in rival camps, they were recently spotted on the same dais with Rahul Gandhi. They seem not to share the animosity of their husbands. “She is like sister to me,” says Ranjan.
People of flood-prone Kosi belt are using an apt metaphor for this duo of foes-turned-friends: “During the floods even the snake and the man will travel in the same boat.” But one knows how things may turn once the water recedes.
Courtsey HT
PESA push for BJP but at Sadans’ cost
October 24, 2010
VIJAY DEO JHA /VINOD PRASAD | RANCHI / LOHARDAGA
The restive lungs in the BJP will have a sure cause to grab credit in coming days if Panchayat elections are conducted under PESA Act, but at this immediate point it is merely whispering in fear about the degree of collateral damage which is built in the framework of this election.
This collateral damage is widely predicted in the form of simmering anger of Sadans (non-tribal) against the BJP and the core constituents of the party who are not happy with the reservation policy opted under PESA. Even party insiders termed it a matter of great concern since Sadans accounts around 70 per cent of the total population of Jharkhand.
“Irrespective of a party in the government; the state government is duty bound to conduct election under Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Area Act (PESA) following the order of the Supreme Court. It is not a political decision,” a senior party leader in Ranchi said.
Two immediate micro level developments in the past four days went unreported. Around 100 Sadans in Lohardaga district have taken pledge to turn heat upon BJP and party Chief Minister Arjun Munda in the electoral field. The call for this boomed from one of the Muslim dominated villages; Narinawadih under Kisko block.
“We will campaign against Munda for his anti-Sadan stand in the constituency he chooses to fight anywhere in Jharkhand. The legitimate political and constitutional rights of Sadans have been ignored in the framework of Panchayat election,” Kuddus Ansari of Sadan Vikash Parishad. The Parishad has still to emerge as a collective and dominant force to rattle the BJP and Munda.
The second is definitely not the music for the BJP. Party office bearers of Varno block under Gumla district resigned in block from the party post to protest elections under Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Area Act (PESA) which they pleaded as subversive to the interest of Sadans.
Before and after Panchayat elections scheduled were announced the party office this week, has filled with cascade of complaints, suggestions and the damage the party may suffer if due steps are not taken to placate Sadans.
These are attached with due references of dismal election results of party in Sadan dominated areas like Lohardaga, Gumla and others in the past assembly polls. State party seniors will probably sit on coming Tuesday to take on this critical issue and panchayat elections as well.
“A meeting has specially been called on Tuesday in Ranchi to discuss Panchayat polls in Jharkhand and the strategy of the party therein.” Newly appointed state BJP president Dineshananda Goswami said equally attempting to downplay the Verno episode ever mirrors dominant feeling of Sadan party workers.
“As party workers we are supporting Panchayat elections even after majority of seats have been kept reserved for the tribal population even those with zero tribal population. There is no effort; political or otherwise; and Sadans are getting alienated from the BJP,” a senior BJP leader in Lohardaga said. Similar sentiment was echoed by one Gumla BJP leader who said that the complaints of Sadan will get more deep-seated after elections. The Congress is secretly laughing over BJP’s stutter. The Congress has started a whispering campaign against BJP among Sadans. “Which way to counter it we do not know,” a party leader said.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Isle of indifference: nobody comes to seek vote
VIJAY DEO JHA in Darbhanga
This report is brought to you from an isle of apathy and indifference. It is election time, and, nobody has come to seek vote here. Who would and why?
It is too difficult for party and candidates since it takes too much time to reach the village Gaijori (a riverine island) situated on the extreme east of Darbhanga under Kuseswarsthan. Surrounded by three rivers, Gaijori is not the single village of its kind which has remained isolated from the rest of the world. There is a long list of such villages: Tilkeswar, Alauli, Ghordaur etc. It is nature’s wish to keep this vast swathe under flood for the rest eight months of the year.
But it is successive state governments that to be blamed for keeping it under perpetual underdevelopment: no road, no electricity and no healthcare even to establish remote connection of such villages with the concept of welfare State.
“No candidate has come to seek our vote, their men have distributed us few banners and pamphlets,” Gopal Yadav a young man of the village said.
This village is essentially Yadav and Mushhar (an extremely backward community) settlement. So they have always been taken copyright property of Lalu Prasad and his party RJD and Ram Vilash Paswan of the LJP. Will they vote if nobody has come to seek it?
“They may come on election day. They can not ignore us. They will ignore us after voting. People have no interest in voting. Votes have not changed our destiny,” Ramkumar Yadav a school teacher complained.
Normally election time offers engagements to youth--unemployed and addict in politics--to consume their plenty time in political gossip, debate and electioneering. Nobody is willing to talk politics if you have come to get their views on Nitish and Lalu.
“Whosoever wins and whosoever is defeated, we are not going to become king nor the fate of our villages is going to be changed,” Gopi Sadai said. The village is flooded with myriads of welfare slogans: Pulse Polio, Sarva Siksha Abhiyan, TB Hatao, Hum Do Hamare Do etc. The painters have done their job, anyway and gone.
Till a couple of years back there was only poverty, unemployment and related problems to deal with; naxal problem has suddenly Till an year back there was unemployment, poverty and other such issues to deal with the Naxal problem have suddenly cropped-up. “This area has been turning into a safe heaven for Naxalites who are recruiting unemployed youths,” concerned one. Only a month back police had arrested a self styled dreaded Maoist commander from this village who was accuse of abducting a panchayat head.
“We are passing through a very bad phase. Situation is turning against us. Politics wolitisk se kuch nahi hoga…kaam kaaz nahi milega to yahi sab hoga,” Sakaldeo Yadav the head of Yadav clan rings ironically true.
Soon after a dozen half naked children their ill health mothers gathered that looked like shambled index of human development of the backyard of Bihar.
It takes around eight hours to reach district headquarter Darbhanga situated barely 75 km away which must be very critical for a patient and an expected mother if rushed to the Darbhanga Medical College. “So why such villages and areas are treated as Kala Pani by official posted here,” said a Lady Extension Officer Mamta Kumari having served in this area.
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