Ranchi:

The Income Tax department is conducting raids at the residence of Sunil Srivastava, allegedly a close aide and personal secretary of Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, said sources on Saturday.

According to the sources, nine different locations are covered in the raids in Ranchi and Jamshedpur.

More details are awaited.

Notably, this comes days ahead of the assembly elections in Jharkhand. CM Soren-led Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), in alliance with Congress, RJD and left parties is facing major competition from the Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA alliance in the state.

Earlier, Jharkhand High Court in June had granted bail to Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren in the alleged land scam case. Hemant Soren was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in January on charges related to an alleged land scam and money laundering.

The 81-member Jharkhand Assembly will go to polls in two phases on November 13 and 20, with vote counting scheduled for November 23.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Jharkhand’s first Chief Minister, the BJP MLA Babulal Marandi, is contesting the upcoming State Assembly election from the Dhanwar constituency, but in a twist, he faces not one, but two INDIA bloc candidates
| Photo Credit: ANI

Jharkhand’s first Chief Minister, the BJP MLA Babulal Marandi, is contesting the upcoming State Assembly election from the Dhanwar constituency, but in a twist, he faces not one, but two INDIA bloc candidates: the CPI (ML)’s Rajkumar Yadav and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha’s Nizammuddin Ansari.

The situation in Dhanwar is emblematic of the problems plaguing the ruling INDIA bloc in the State. A lack of coordination, delayed and tortuous seat-sharing negotiations that went on till the last minute, and now, a public spat between allies, is hobbling the campaign.

In a bid to untangle part of the mess, the CPI(ML) withdrew its candidate from the Jamua seat in the hope that Hemant Soren’s JMM would reciprocate by pulling back its candidate from Dhanwar. However, despite the prospect of a high-profile battle, with Mr. Marandi in the fray, the two allies could not reach an agreement.

Friendly fire

It is a straight-forward contest, according to Mr. Yadav, who says: “The contest is between me and Mr. Marandi.” He dismisses the JMM’s candidate Mr. Ansari, as a “B-team” of BJP.

Mr. Yadav and Mr. Ansari have faced each other four times in the past; in three of these contests, the CPI-ML candidate has garnered more votes, though they have each won the seat once before. Mr. Yadav won the seat in 2014, defeating Mr. Marandi who was then fighting on the ticket of the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik), which he founded after striking out from the BJP in 2006. In 2009, Mr. Ansari won the seat, as a JVM(P) candidate. But for the purposes of electoral negotiations, the CPI(ML) leaned on the significance of the most recent contest in the State election of 2019, which Mr. Marandi won. Mr. Yadav himself was third, behind the BJP by 2,557 votes, but Mr. Ansari was way down in the tally at sixth place, even behind the new entrant AIMIM.

‘Betrayal’

“The CPI(ML) has successfully stalled the BJP here in the past on our own strength without leaning on any alliance. We will do it yet again. If Chief Minister Hemant Soren was sincere about stopping the BJP, then why would you field a candidate who came sixth in the last election?” asks Mr. Yadav.

Both the CPI(ML) and JMM are targeting Muslim voters, who make up 14% to 16% of the electorate in the constituency. The CPI(ML) candidate has a slight edge, since 18% to 20% of Dhanwar voters are Yadavs.

“We withdrew our candidate from the Jamua assembly constituency in the interest of maintaining unity within the INDIA bloc. But the JMM did not reciprocate. It is a clear betrayal on their part,” said CPI(ML) State secretary Manoj Bhakt.

‘JMM failed as mediator’

Dhanwar is not the only seat where allies are standing against each other. The official seat-sharing formula of the alliance gave 42 seats to the JMM, 30 for the Congress, six for the Rashtriya Janata Dal, and three for the CPI(ML). However, the Congress, RJD, and CPI(ML) have all put up extra candidates. The Palamu district is a case in point, where both the Congress and the RJD have put up candidates in both the Bishrampur and Chhatarpur seats, though the former had been allotted to the RJD in the alliance and the later to the Congress.

“Mr. Soren made more than one tactical error. The first was not to call the CPI(ML) to the negotiating table. Second, was not to adequately compensate the Congress and RJD for the seats they were giving up,” a senior Congress leader said. When the talks between the allies over Dhanwar broke down, both the RJD and Congress reverted to the 2019 formula, claiming extra seats for themselves.

“JMM failed as the mediator, since they didn’t keep up their side of the bargain. There is no doubt if the alliance wins, Mr. Soren will continue as CM. The least they could have done was be generous with allies,” the senior Congress leader added.

Ranchi:

INDIA alliance partners in Jharkhand are set for a “friendly battle” in three assembly seats in the upcoming assembly polls, its leaders said on Saturday.

JMM and CPI-ML have already decided to go for a friendly fight in Dhanwar assembly seat, while Congress and RJD are still trying to avoid a friendly contest in the Chhattarpur and Bishrampur seats, they said at a joint press conference here.

The elections to the 81-member Jharkhand Assembly will take place in two phases on November 13 and 20, with counting of votes to take place on November 23.

As many as 1,211 candidates are in the fray for the 81 assembly seats after completion of nomination withdrawal exercises for both phases of the election.

The JMM has fielded candidates in 43 Assembly seats, Congress in 30 seats, RJD from six and CPI-ML in four seats.

“JMM, Congress, RJD and CPI-ML are jointly contesting the Jharkhand polls under the INDIA bloc. Excluding three seats – Chhatarpur, Bishrampur and Dhanwar – seat-sharing arrangements have been settled for all the constituencies in the alliance. The JMM has decided to go for a friendly contest with CPI-ML in Dhanwar seat,” JMM general secretary Vinod Pandey told reporters.

RJD and Congress have fielded their candidates from Chhatarpur and Bishrampur seats.

“Discussions are still going on to sort out the issue on both the seats. We hope to see a result in a day or two,” Mr Pandey said, adding that the RJD was given six seats, while the CPI-ML got three seats under the INDIA bloc.

Jharkhand Congress president Keshav Mahto Kamlesh said that they would contest the polls jointly and form an INDIA alliance government again.

The INDIA bloc has not yet officially declared their seat-sharing arrangements.

Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren had, on October 19, said that the INDIA bloc will contest the upcoming assembly polls together and the Congress and the JMM will field candidates in 70 of 81 seats.

The remaining 11 seats would be left for the RJD and the Left parties, he had said. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Ranchi:

Jharkhand Additional Chief Electoral Officer Neha Arora on Saturday said that an FIR has been registered against Jharkhand Minister Irfan Ansari for allegedly making derogatory remarks about BJP leader Sita Soren in Jamtara district.

“An FIR has been registered in Jamtara district for violating MCC (model code of conduct) provisions. A strict advisory has also been issued to all the political parties in this regard,” Neha Arora said.

Union Minister Annapurna Devi said the statement made by Irfan Ansari exposes the mentality of the Congress party.

“He (Irfan Ansari) has given a very wrong statement on Sita Soren. This exposes the mentality of the Congress party. The Congress party is anti-women and anti-youth…I condemn this statement…Will Rahul Gandhi take back the tickets given to people with such a low level of thinking? The Congress party should remove such people from the cabinet,” Annapurna Devi said.

Sita Soren said she was unable to understand how people like Mr Ansari get the courage to make such statements.

“I am unable to understand where he gets the courage to make such statements. Who is giving him the courage to make such statements, because no one has ever made such statements against me in Jharkhand…The party has informed the Election Commission about his statement. We will not forgive him…The entire tribal population is angry,” the BJP leader said.

Another BJP leader, Ragini Singh, said insulting women is the policy of the Congress party.

“This is his mentality. It is the policy of Congress to comment on a woman but BJP policy is to respect all the women whether they are from the Congress or the BJP,” Ms Singh said.

Irfan Ansari, the Congress candidate from the Jamtara constituency, stirred controversy with his remarks about Sita Soren, his opponent from the seat.

On Friday, Sita Soren posted a video on X, claiming that the Congress leader referred to her as “rejected” and a “borrowed player” while responding to a journalist’s question about competing against her in the upcoming election.

The BJP leader also demanded an apology from Mr Ansari for using “indecent language” against her, stating that the public would respond to him.

“Congress @INCIndia candidate Irfan Ansari must apologise for the indecent language he used against me in front of the media immediately after filing his nomination. He has previously made personal comments about me, but this time he has crossed all limits. Irfan ji @IrfanAnsariMLA, apologise, or be prepared for fierce opposition,” she posted on X.

“The indecent words you used while holding such a respected position have alarmed women across society. If you can use such words for me, what must poor and vulnerable women face? As long as such leaders remain in power, women will remain unsafe. The time has come to remove them from power. The way you look at women is now before the public, and the public will respond,” the BJP leader added.

The BJP will contest the upcoming Jharkhand assembly elections in alliance with the All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU), Janata Dal (United), and Lok Janshakti Party (LJP). The BJP will contest 68 seats, AJSU 10, JDU two, and the LJP from one seat.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

In the high-stakes world of politics, leaders frequently change parties in the hope of securing a ticket. In Jharkhand, a dramatic instance of this was seen late on Thursday night, when the Congress party denied a ticket to one of its sitting MLAs, only for him to switch sides within hours.

On Thursday night, the Congress released its second list of candidates for the Jharkhand Assembly elections around 11.30 pm. In a surprise move, the name of incumbent Barhi MLA Umashankar Yadav Akela was replaced by Arun Sahu, creating last-minute upheaval.

Two days prior, Umashankar Akela had announced his intention to file his nomination as a Congress candidate, after having received assurances that he would be the party’s choice. A rally and procession had already been planned by the local Congress unit in preparation for his nomination.

When Umashankar Akela learned of his exclusion late at night, he decided to act swiftly. He travelled nearly 170 km from his residence in Chauparan to Daltonganj, where he met with Samajwadi Party (SP) state President Keshav Yadav (also known as Ranjan Yadav) at around 4 am and joined the Samajwadi Party.

The Samajwadi Party promptly offered him a ticket from Barhi, allowing him to return to his constituency and file his nomination later that day.

Umashankar Akela has now accused the Congress of selling party tickets, alleging that he was asked to pay Rs 2 crore for his ticket and was dropped when he refused.

He criticised the Congress for ignoring loyal party leaders, saying that “honest leaders are being sidelined.”

Meanwhile, the SP’s state President Keshav Yadav has asserted that the party’s support will be essential in forming the next government in Jharkhand.

Friday is the last date for filing nominations for Jharkhand elections, the voting for which will take place on November 13 and 20, with counting scheduled for November 23.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)