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Close contest in Jamshedpur-West
Posters on Gujarat riots in two more Bihar districts
Retrenched workers’ votes may be crucial
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Close contest in Jamshedpur-West
Kharsawa, Feb 14 Nursed by Mr Munda for the past 15 years, Kharsawa is getting more of his attention since he became the Chief Minister in March, 2003. Roads have been constructed and electricity provided to faraway villages. Women hostels have come up and health infrastructure has improved in the constituency . Congress nominee Kunti Soi seems to be fighting with her back to the wall. Even her campaigners admit to Mr Munda having improved the civic amenities but they are not without issues. “Roads may been built but what about the massive unemployment. The road can be used only when one has enough to eat,” says Aarti Mukhi, a Congress worker from Kola village. She says Mr Munda has not made efforts to bring industry which could have created jobs. The Congress workers accuse the Chief Minister of giving contracts for road construction to his favourites. A big consolation for the Congress is undivided JMM support on its side in this constituency. Kharsawa was among the 16 Assembly segments in the state where the BJP stayed ahead of its rivals in the 2004 Lok Sabha poll when it could win only one of the 14 parliamentary seats. If Mr Munda seems comfortable in Kharsawa, his close
associate, Mr Laxman Tudu, is facing a stiff battle from JMM’s Champai Soren in Saraikela. The BJP denied the ticket to its sitting MLA Anant Ram Tudu from Saraikela as Mr Munda is believed to have personally asked for the ticket for Laxman Tudu. Mr Anant Ram Tudu is now campaigning for the BJP nominee in Chaibasa instead of Saraikela. Mr Munda has left no one in doubt about his closeness to Mr Laxman which now seems to be the biggest factor working in favour of the BJP candidate. In neighbouring Chaibasa, Vimal Sumbrai of the Congress is facing a tough battle from his BJP opponent Putkar Hembram. It is not so much a battle for Vimal Sumbrai, more popular by the title ‘Hitler,’ as for his father,
Bagun Sumbrai, who is Congress MP from Chaibasa. Mr Bagun Sumbrai is among the four Congress MPs who got the ticket for their
sons. 'Hitler’ seems to have a reputation for recklessness which has made matters worse for his father. “He has been told to keep a low profile. The father is campaigning for the son,” says Ajay, a shopkeeper in Chaibasa. If the Congress candidate is not very popular in Chaibasa, villagers of neighbouring Potka seat are upset with the BJP’s sitting
MLA, Ms Menaka Sardar, over the ways of her husband. “He was running the show on her behalf during her term as an MLA. Villagers do not like his rough ways,” says Virender Singh, a resident of Potka. The BJP’s state president, Raghuvar
Das, has his prestige at stake in Jamshedpur( East) where he is facing the main challenge from Ramashrya Prasad of the Congress. However, it is Jamshedpur (West )which has become the cynosure of all eyes. Cinestars Raj Babbar and Jayaprada,
besides Mr Amar Singh, flew in to boost the prospects of Mr Banna Gupta. Hidayat, who has reputation for notoriety, is drawing support from a large section of the minority community which constitutes nearly a third of the population of
Jamshedpur (West). The Congress has fielded Iba Ahmed, a first-timer. The multi-cornered, high-voltage contest may just prove lucky for BJP’s Saryu Rai.
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Posters on Gujarat riots in two more Bihar districts
Patna, February 14 Two FIRs were registered with the Pipra and Supaul police stations in the district against RJD workers, including a shopkeeper Rajesh Yadav, Superintendent of police (Supaul) M.P. Singh said today. Another FIR was lodged against an organisation and publishers of such posters, which appeared under the Sikarpur Assembly constituency in West Champaran, official sources said. The posters were found pasted at Dhumnagar Chowk, Semra Chowk, Ajuwa Chowk and Dhumnagar village yesterday. The appearance of such posters and screening of CDs on the Gujarat riots have sparked off a controversy with the Election Commission serving a notice on the ruling party. Earlier, such posters had appeared in Bhagalpur, Kishanganj and Purnea districts of Bihar.
— PTI
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Gujarat riots CD breach of copyright: producer
Patna, February 14 Shankar, who made the film in 2002 to bring to light the role of the Modi Government in Gujarat, said the purpose of making the film was to show the world the murder of humanity perpetrated by the BJP Government in Gandhinagar. “The film could be used in such a distorted manner is unimaginable, he said. Asked if he gave permission for the use of these shots in the CD, which has been shown in some constituencies Shankar said “I was neither asked nor I gave any permission”. The film was earlier used in Kishanganj and Purnea during the 2004 Lok Sabha elections. This was confirmed by former BJP Minister Shahnawaz Hussain, who lost the Lok Sabhha election from Kishanganj. “The two documentary films have been extensively used in the debated CD and an RJD leader had procured the two films prior to the 2004 Lok Sabha elections”, a source close to Railway Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav said.
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Retrenched workers’ votes may be crucial
Barauni, February 14 Dismissing the assertion of RJD chief Laloo Prasad Yadav that development is not an issue, lakhs of unemployed, retrenched and out-of-work hands are sure to make the life of political parties “miserable”, a former employee of the closed fertiliser plant, Rehman, said with seething anger within. A majority of ailing industries are located in region where the elections are taking place on February 15 and 23 and the unemployed industrial workforce and their families are asking unpleasant questions to political parties and their candidates. “Our misery began with the advent of forces of social justice in the last decade of the last century. Fifteen years of RJD rule in Patina has paid scant attention to industrial development, which has resulted in closure of industries,” a retrenched engineer of the Balaji Paper Mill Ashok Singh said. According to a diagnostic survey of Bihar Industries Association condition of 80 per cent is extremely bad. There are about 5,000 industrial units of which 3,500 are either closed or sick. Fifty four per cent have been closed and 20 per cent are ailing because of non-availability of power and criminal environment. Main reason of the sad state of affairs is the lack of resources and bad law and order situation in the state, which has been deteriorating with every passing day, an entrepreneur, Sanjay Kumar said Among the big industries, which have been closed, are 15 public sector sugar mills, two jute mills and two paper mills. The entire Rohtas industrial group is shut for years now, says the diagnostic survey. Even Dalmianagar industrial area has been under a lock for 20 years. Units of glass bangles, soap, steel pipes, biscuit, cold storage, electric polls and plastic have been closed. Power generation has been coming down for years. Only six per cent of households in Bihar are electrified against the national average of 35 per cent. Few industrialists left the state because of demands of extortion by gangs, which enjoy ruling party’s patronage, a senior police official confided on condition of anonymity. Starvation, disease and death are the accompanying symptoms of the joblessness. Often enough, the children of this unemployed workforce have been forced to drop out of schools. Some from out-of-work persons have taken the extreme steps like committing suicide but the ruling dispensation took no steps to arrest the industrial sickness, a former personnel manager of a closed unit B.P. Singh said. Depressing industrial scenario in the state is bound to make an impact on the ongoing election, Mr Singh said.
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