SUMAN K SHRIVASTAVA
Ranchi, June 1: For a change, the Rajya Sabha elections in Jharkhand are not in news for displaying money power by candidates or for that matter the ruling party is not misusing administrative machinery to influence the MLAs.
Moreover, the JMM, which always drew flak for fielding either cash-rich candidates or giving tickets to the members of the party’s first family, has also fielded Mahua Maji, a candidate outside Soren’s family. On the other hand, the BJP, known for inducting new faces, has also fielded Aditya Sahu, a grassroots party worker.
“This is a welcome change,” says a political expert. “The JMM’s choice of Mahua Maji, better known as a writer, may be an answer to Narendra Modi’s “pariwarwadi” jibe implying that the family-run parties concentrate power in their families alone and there is no future for those people who serve the parties for a longtime,” he pointed out.
Mahua happens to be the head of the JMM’s women wing but is not a career politician. So, the JMM’s choice has not gone well with its rival, the BJP. Says BJP president Deepak Prakash, “She has not been among the leaders who nurtured the JMM. (Wey log jinhone JMM ko Seencha aur khincha satta or Rajya Sabha mein dikhayee nahi dete hain).
Poll strategist Prashant Kishor in a recent interview had also said that the party which does not give an opportunity to new faces has a doomed future.
But then, this is the fourth time in the last 22 years that Jharkhand has witnessed the Rajya Sabha elections ‘uncontested’. Both the candidates are set to be declared winners uncontested on June 3.
Earlier, Yashwant Sinha (BJP) and Stephen Marandi (JMM) had been declared uncontested in 2004. Again in 2006, Mabel Rebello (Congress) and SS Ahluwalia (BJP) were declared elected uncontested. Again in 2014, Premchand Gupta (RJD) and Parimal Nathwani (independent) had been declared winners uncontested. The elections in 2020, when Deepak Prakash and Shibu Soren were elected, though contested, had also been fair.
But then, these elections were exceptions only. The Rajya Sabha elections in Jharkhand had always been marred by money power, horse-trading, and cross-voting.
In 2012, the Election Commission countermanded the poll held for two Rajya Sabha seats from Jharkhand in view of incidents of “horse-trading and use of money power to influence the voters (MLAs)”.
There were allegations of corrupt activities to woo the MLAs and make them do cross-voting using money power. The Income Tax department had seized Rs. 2.15 crore cash from the vehicle belonging to the brother of an independent R K Agrawal contesting the poll. The case, being probed by the CBI is in the final stage. Sita Soren, the daughter-in-law of Shibu Soren, is also one of the accused in the case.
Again in 2016, the ruling BJP fielded two candidates- minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Mahesh Poddar-though it had no requisite number. It indulged in arm-twisting and luring the MLAs and it succeeded also. JMM candidate Basant Soren has lost the election by a whisker. The case lodged at the instance of the Election Commission against senior IPS officer Anurag Gupta and CM’s press advisor Ajay Kumar is still pending.
Among others, who have represented Jharkhand in the Upper House in the past included Parimal Nathwani (Independent), Prem Chand Gupta (RJD), K D Singh (JMM), Dheeraj Sahu (Congress), R K Anand (Congress), and D N Sahay (Independent).
One reason why money power has been on full display in Jharkhand as there have been a good number of Independents and the MLAs of fringe political parties who always influenced the election result in the State.
“Also, it is a fact that party whips do not apply to MLAs in these elections. It means that no party can issue whips to its MLAs during the Rajya Sabha elections. Political parties can issue instructions but the violation of such instructions by their MLAs can’t be a reason for their disqualification from the Assembly. If MLAs are expelled from the party and a letter is given in this regard to the Speaker, they could only be declared unattached members. However, their membership in the Assembly could not be taken away,” pointed out an expert.
“This freedom of choosing candidates on the basis of his/her own conscience provided ample opportunities to MLAs to ignore candidates fielded/supported by their own parties. So, even if the MLA did not vote for party supported candidate, he/she did not run the risk of losing his membership. And this has been the root cause of all controversies,” said an MLA.
