The Assembly bypoll in Jharkhand’s Kharsawan constituency with BJP chief minister Arjun Munda as the star candidate passed off peacefully with an astounding 73 per cent voting and no violent incident on Thursday. Both the ruling BJP-JMM and the Opposition JVM-Congress alliances claimed victory will be theirs.
The high voter turnout was attributed to the high-voltage campaigning carried out by top Jharkhand leaders and to the fact that a sitting chief minister was contesting to enter the Assembly to continue in his post in a state long synonymous with political instability. It also helped that Munda, currently the MP from Jamshedpur, is a local politician who won thrice in this constituency in southern Jharkhand.
Kharsawan being a Maoist-infested area, elaborate security arrangements were in place by having six companies of central paramilitary forces to help the district police and two helicopters manned by security forces conducting aerial surveys. Voting began at 7 am and ended at 3 pm in 238 booths, of which 159 were categorised as hyper-sensitive and 50 as sensitive. The constituency had 1.54 lakh eligible voters.
“This fertile soil in Jharkhand has always thought about the state. I am absolutely sure about victory,” said Mr Munda, who became chief minister in September 2010, after casting his vote along with his wife, Meera Munda. The bypoll is believed to have effected a sharp polarisation of votes between Munda and Dasrath Gagrai alias Krishna Gagrai of the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (JVM), led by former CM Babulal Marandi. Gagrai is the joint candidate of the entire Opposition, supported by JVM’s ally Congress and the National Jharkhandi Alliance.
Five other candidates — CPI(ML)’s Bahadur Oraon and four Independent candidates — were also in the fray, but they had little impact on the voters.
BJP Jharkhand president Dineshanand Goswami said after polling was over: “Munda would win by a margin of over 60,000 votes. He had won here the last time by 55,000 votes. Kharsawan’s people have an emotional bonding with both the BJP and the JMM because of long struggles the two parties led for a separate state.” Counting of votes would be held on February 17.