SUMAN K SHRIVASTAVA
Ranchi, Aug. 14: The Dumri byelection, scheduled to be held on September 5, is bracing for a battle between two widows, who expect the voters will make a political choice out of love and affection for their late husbands.
While the ruling JMM has fielded Baby Mahto, the widow of late Education Minister Jagarnath Mahto, the AJSU party has picked up Yashoda Devi, widow of Jharkhand movement activist and former JD (U) leader late Damodar Mahto, to turn the tide in its favour.
Damodar Mahto had contested as a JD (U) nominee in 2009 and died before 2019 due to kidney failure.
Yashoda, as an AJSU party candidate, had been defeated by Jagarnath Mahto by a margin of over 34,000 in the 2019 assembly elections.
The Dumri seat has fallen vacant due to death of Education Minister Jagarnath Mahto on April 6 last due to post Corona complications.
Says AJSU Spokesperson Deosharan Bhagat, “If Baby Mahto expects to ride on the sympathy votes following death of Jagarnath Mahto, Yashoda too will make an appeal of sympathy to fulfil her husband’s dreams. He was a separate Jharkhand movement activist and had a dream for Dumri.”
Yashoda, whose son is suffering from cancer, said, “I have lost my husband but not his dreams.”
“Moreover, the ground reality is that the NDA vote share had outnumbered the JMM votes in the last two elections. AJSU Party candidate Chandra Prakash Chaudhary, fighting in coalition with the BJP in 2019 Lok Sabha elections, had polled around 1.8 lakh votes in Dumri assembly constituency while Jagarnath Mahto, who too had contested the Lok Sabha elections had garnered around 70,000 votes,” Bhagat pointed out.
“However, both the AJSU and the BJP fought the 2019 assembly elections separately, paving the path for the JMM’s victory. The combined vote share of the AJSU and the BJP in the 2019 assembly elections was 72,853 compared to 71,128 votes polled by the JMM. So, the arithmetic favours the NDA nominee,” Bhagat pointed out.
The AJSU’s success in Ramgarh bypoll, where it along with the BJP put up a joint show, has boosted up its morale.
Bhagat said that this election will be a mandate on the Hemant Soren government’s failed promises on jobs, 1932-based job policy, development and also on rampant corruption.
On the other hand, the ruling JMM, whose prestige is at stake, too expects to ride on the sympathy votes in favour of Baby Devi, whose husband Jagarnath had won from Dumri for the last four times. Baby Devi was sworn in as a minister last month.
Says JMM spokesperson Supriyo Bhattacharya, “we will win elections on ‘naam’ and ‘kaam’ of Jagarnath Babu”.
“Moreover, the JMM nominee will get the support of the other INDIA coalition parties like the CPI and the JD (U) which had fought the last elections separately,” he said.
JD (U) nominee Lalchand Mahto had got over 5000 votes while CPI candidate Ganesh Mahto had bagged 2,891 votes in 2019.
“Moreover, the 2 plus 2 is not always 4 in an electoral battle,” he asserted.
Crucial battle ahead of 2024 LS polls
If the result of Dumri by-election goes in favour of the NDA, then definitely the atmosphere will be in favour of the NDA for the 2024 parliamentary elections. “The poll outcome will not many any impact on the health of the JMM-led government, but it will certainly give a reply to its misdeeds and failure to fulfil any of its electoral promises,” said Deosharan Bhagat.
On the other, if the result goes in favour of the JMM, then it is natural to increase psychological pressure on the NDA (BJP) in Jharkhand.
Social equation
If we look at the social equation in the elections in this area, the dominance of the Mahto caste has been seen in the last ten elections. Be it any party, the MLAs have come from the Mahto community, Besides, Vaishya, Muslim (AIMIM candidate Abdul Mobin Rizvi had got over 24,000 votes in 2019) and tribals too have strong vote banks in Dumri. Giridih’s AJSU MP Chandraprakash Chaudhary is from Mahto caste only.
