SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad, May 26: Siblings of senior state Congress and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leaders have fallen like ninepins in Panchayat and District Board elections in Dhanbad.
Though Panchayat elections are party less, leaders of all national and regional political parties are contesting either themselves or have fielded their siblings in the fray at Dhanbad.
But in the three phases of the election so far, all has not gone well at least for the state leaders of Congress and JMM.
While Dhanbad district Congress working president Shankar Prajapati himself contested the Mukhiya poll in Tundi and bite the dust, Congress state working president Jaleswar Mahto fielded his siblings in the fray and received a major jolt in his own den in Baghmara block.
Reena Kumari, daughter-in-law of MLA Jaleshwar Mahto was defeated in the District Board election while his nephews Manoj Mahto and Santosh Mahto lost Mukhiya posts polls. Sharda Singh, the wife of BJP Mahuda Mandal president Shekhar Singh, defeated the daughter-in-law of Jaleshwar Mahto on 16 no. the seat of the District Board.
Three times JMM MLA and former minister Mathura Prasad Mahto and JMM district secretary Pawan Mahto also faced major jolts in their popularity in the Panchayat polls.
Pawan Mahto’s son Vikash Mahto was defeated in the District Board election. Interestingly, Congress leader Israfil Ansari alias Lala Ansari destroyed the citadel of JMM leaders.
Political Pandits of the coal belt say that the Panchayat and District Board elections in the Baghmara region were the litmus test of the popularity of three leaders namely Baghmara sitting MLA Dhulu Mahto of BJP, Congress state working president and former MLA Jaleshwar Mahto and JMM Tundi MLA Mathura Prasad.
Dhulu Mahto won this race with the victory of his supported candidates in the Mukhiya and District Board members election.
As per claims of Dhulu Mahto, BJP won all six seats of the District Board in the Baghmara block and 40 Mukhiya posts out of 44 in the region.
This massive victory of Dhulu Mahto supported candidates in rural polis in the Baghmara region keeps significance as in the 2019 assembly election, Dhulu won the seat by a narrow margin (below thousand votes) against Congress and JMM joint candidate Jaleshwar Mahto.
