Jharkhand polls: Issues and politics

Arun Chaubey

Nine years ago, the state of Jharkhand was formed with a hope to meet the expectations of the majority tribal population, but that dream is yet to be realized. The protagonists of the statehood struggle too are mired in controversy and have proved to be opportunists, even as it has earned ignominy for Maoist violence and the latest Madu Koda corruption case. The state, by its administrative record, also has been ill-served by its politicians who have been responsible for rapid change of Chief Ministers, six in nine years. Independents have wielded inordinate clout and Koda is the biggest example of this. The lack of foresight of the political leadership has categorized the state as one the poorest, despite having immense reservoirs of mineral wealth. The residents of the state appear to be disillusioned, but the assembly election has given them an opportunity to think and decide upon issues like corruption, Maoist violence, stability of government, development and other issues affecting their lives. Corruption: Although the state comprising majority tribal population came into being for the welfare of those who were desperate to get respite from years of neglect and apathy, Jharkhand has in fact been cheated with regime after regime having failed to set things in order. The country was left shocked with exposure of the Madu Koda corruption case. The man with humble beginnings, along with eight others, has been accused of amassing property worth Rs 4,000 crore, besides making investments in places like UAE, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore and Liberia. His two other Cabinet colleagues, Hari Narayan Rai and Enos Ekka, have already been booked by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for alleged money laundering, foreign exchange violations and forgery. Although the ED and Income Tax (I-T) have claimed much, they are yet to arrest Koda as there is little direct evidence in sight. Koda is said to have made all his transactions verbally, but it would be difficult for him to disassociate himself from his unannounced foreign visits that he took along with his friends and did not inform either the Centre or the state governments about them. Koda was denied ticket in the 2005 assembly polls and when he won as an independent, Arjun Munda, who did not allow him a BJP ticket, placated him by offering a cabinet berth. Surprisingly, this independent member had by that time managed such clout that he dethroned Arjun Munda and remained on the apex state post of CM for 23 months, with the support of Congress and its allies. Although the Congress party is trying hard to wash its hands off the Koda controversy, the BJP and its allies are trying to corner it by saying that Koda managed to act on such a scale due to the patronage by or promiscuity of some UPA leaders. However, an undeterred Koda has floated his own political outfit called Jharkhand Navnirman Morcha and has fielded five candidates, including his wife. Naxalism: Jharkhand is one of the 13 states in the country where Naxalites have considerable influence. The Leftist rebels are active in 18 out of 24 districts of the state, which in the last nine years, has witnessed the killing of about 1,550 people in Maoist violence. Although the state, which forms part of the infamous Red Corridor, has an abundance of natural resources, its people live in abject poverty, thus providing ample recruits for the Left insurgents who argue that they are fighting on behalf of the landless poor. Since the government holds a monopoly on sub-surface resources, the tribal populace is prevented from staking any claim on the resources extracted from their land. This too has helped the Maoists, who recently have started a campaign to target infrastructure related to the extraction of resources vital for energy needs, such as coal. In order to scuttle Maoist designs, Centre has resorted to the twin pronged-strategy of carrot and stick. It has offered free mobile phones to villagers if they extend cooperation to security forces and at the same time has resorted to extensive combing operations in Naxal-infested areas. How far this would be able to make any difference to the people or would even influence them towards electing better candidates will be known only by December 23. In the 2005 assembly elections, Naxalites killed CPI-ML MLA Mahender Singh, who continuously represented the Bagodar seat and was a voice which always fought for the common masses. The audacity of Maoists can be assessed from the fact that a JMM MP, Sunil Mahto, was shot dead on March 5, 2007, while he was watching a football match on the occasion of Holi near Kishanpur, some 160 km east of Ranchi. Maoists recently targeted the Tata-Bilaspur Express in which several bogies were damaged and a few passengers died, besides resorting to blowing up of schools and abducting people, including one RJD MLA. Since it is difficult to differentiate between peasants and Naxal cadres, any operation in the affected region fails to make any impact. Moreover, the problem is related to economic and social backwardness rather than being a purely political one. Keeping that aspect in consideration, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi in her election rally, has urged that violence has no place in democracy and solutions could be brought about through non-violent methods. Rahul Gandhi too has focused on issues of tribal welfare, development and stability during his whirlwind tours of the state. How far the political parties would be able to woo the masses would be interesting to watch. Development & stability: One startling fact about MLAs here is that they are the highest paid representatives in the country, while residents belong to the poorest regions. Ironically, the state failed to meet the deadline to organize the National Games, and had to pay damages of Rs 1 crore. These are certain facts which reveal that despite being endowed with everything, the state is yet to come on to the path of development due to its myopic leadership. The region was earlier known for its educational infrastructure but after attaining the status of a full-fledged state, it failed to open even a single state-of-the-art institute. These issues may appear to be petty in front of corruption and Naxal problem, but common man is directly affected by them. Therefore, the political parties of all hues are making promises to change the face of the state if their alliance comes to power. But stability seems to be a key factor as, in the nine years of its existence, Jharkhand has witnessed several Chief Ministers and one of them, whose rags-to-riches story could have been an ideal for people, is smeared with scam taint. It is now upto the people of the state to cast their valuable ballot in favour of a political alliance, which would provide them with a stable government and make a real turn-around as far as Jharkhand’s overall development is concerned.