Poll promises flash in the pan, it’s always dark in Jharkhand’s ‘coal capital’ In this six Assembly seat belt, where govts have failed to address pressing issues like illegal mining and lack of drinking water, could BJP hold an edge? Across the six Assembly constituencies comprising the “coal capital” of Jharkhand, the most pressing issues are the lack of employment opportunities, fuelling illegal mining and resultant fatal accidents, and the shortage of drinking water due to the diminishing groundwater levels in Dhanbad district.
However, voters fret, the poll campaign in the Jharia, Tundi, Baghmara, Dhanbad, Sindri and Nirsa constituencies revolved mostly around electiontime issues such as Jharkhand Loktantrik Krantikari Morcha (JLKM) chief Jairam Mahato’s ability to “cut into This time, the most interesting contest is in Jharia, where two sisters-in-law are competing against each other — sitting Congress MLA Purnima Neeraj Singh vs the BJP’s Ragini Singh.
Ragini’s husband Sanjeev has been in jail since 2017 in connection with the murder of Purnima’s husband, his cousin and former Dhanbad deputy mayor Neeraj Singh. Three years earlier, in the 2014 polls, Sanjeev had defeated Neeraj. The family draws its roots back to the infamous Suryadev Singh, Sanjeev’s father and former MLA whose early life is said to have inspired the Bollywood movie Gangs of That might have earned Jharia limelight, but made little difference to the lives of its 1 lakh odd residents.
Despite multiple promises by successive governments, they live here with “unscientific coal mining”, underground fires and lack of access to clean drinking water. While from the NDA side, the BJP is contesting all the six seats, from the INDIA bloc, the Congress has candidates in the fray in Dhanbad, Jharia, Baghmara, the (JMM) is contesting Tundi and the CPI (ML)L Nirsa and Sindri seats.
Across Jharia, one can see rows of houses with cracks in them and the debris of collapsed ones as people refuse to take up the government offer of resettlement in Belgadiya village, pointing to the lack of economic opportunities. Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Muslims dominate the constituency, making up around 25% and 21% of the A huge hoarding put up by supporters of Purnima at Indira Chowk in the heart of Jharia lists her “achievements” – “beautification of Raja pond”, “bringing RPD College back to Jharia”, “establishing a community health centre” and “constructing the Jharia-Baliapur road”. pucca houses, 35-year-old Suraj Kumar Vishwakarma, a carpenter dressed in a white vest and shorts, claims the incumbent MLA has been “inaccessible” and voices his support for the BJP despite being a beneficiary of the JMM government’s welfare schemes.
“My family is benefitting from the Maiyya Samman Yojana too but I do not trust this government’s promises. I think things will become better under the BJP,” he says. Barely 100 metres away is 37-year-old Mohammad Sabir, a mason, who also claims the MLA is not “approachable” and says most Muslims will vote for the JMM and not the candidate. “Though Mathura is not approachable, we all want the JMM to win and will vote for them,” he says.
Sabir goes on to elaborate on the water problem and says the Centre’s Har Ghar Jal Yojana is yet to reach them. “The community motor too is dysfunctional,” he adds. his beetle shop. A self-proclaimed follower of Dullu, he says the MP helped him secure employment with a coal excavation company 14 years ago. Naresh claims the Rs 15,000 a month job helps feed “at least six families” and is wary that the JLKM candidate may cut into the votes of In conversation with Naresh is 48-year-old Narayan Razak, who irons clothes to make ends meet.
“After my father passed away 10 years ago, we had gone to Dullu’s provide relief to families of persons killed due to illegal In Sindri, incumbent BJP MLA Indrajit Mahato’s wife Tara Devi has been fielded due to her husband’s ailing health. Devi has gone into the election claiming she is looking after three houses – her constituency, her own house and her ailing husband. She is up against the CPI(ML)L’s Bablu