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Jharkhand: BJP headed for tough fight in former chief minister’s bastion

Nov 13, 2024 06:44 AM IST

Geeta Koda and her husband and former chief minister, Madhu Koda, who face cases of money laundering joined the Congress ahead of 2019 general election.

Jagannathpur: It is 9am and 41-year-old Geeta Koda, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s candidate from Jagannathpur in Jharkhand is already campaigning in Arahasa, a remote village in Goelkera, around 120 km south west of Jamshedpur.

Former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda. (PTI PHOTO) PREMIUM
Former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda. (PTI PHOTO)

“Now-a-days my schedule starts very early. Party workers starts arriving in my residence by around 5am and by 8am I am out in the field. The campaigns go on till around 10pm. We are primarily holding pocket meetings in remote villages,”she said.

The lone Lok Sabha member of the Congress from Jharkhand, Geeta Koda joined the BJP in February 2024 just ahead of the LoK Sabha polls. She lost to the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha’s Joba Majhi by a substantial margin of 1.68 lakh votes

“Earlier, when I was in the Congress, I tried to raise the issue of development in this region, multiple times. But the party never paid heed. The government did little to meet the demands of this region such as reopening of mines and generate employment for tribal youths. Malnutrition is a major problem. The Centre came to help when the JMM-Cong government was sitting idle,” she said.

Koda and her husband and former chief minister, Madhu Koda, who face cases of money laundering joined the Congress ahead of 2019 general election. She won from Chaibasa (West Singhbhum) Lok Sabha seat.

“It was becoming increasingly impossible to work with the JMM-Cong government. On the other hand, the BJP was doing development work for the tribals,” she added.

There are five seats, including Jagannathpur, reserved for people from scheduled tribes in the West Singhbhum district of the state. The BJP lost all five in the 2019 assembly election.

“Last time, because of the opposition’s propaganda a fear had spread among the masses that BJP would grab their land. But that panic is over now,” she said, indirectly referring to the outrage to a controversial scheme of the BJP government that ruled the state between 2014 and 2019 to amend the Santhal Pargana Tenancy Act of 1949 and the Chotanagpur Tenancy Act of 1908. Of the 28 seats reserved for tribals in the state, the BJP could win only two in 2019.

This time, the party has sought to raise the spectre of infiltration by non-tribals into the state, and other issues relevant to tribals.

“One of our biggest demands is the inclusion of Ho language in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution, Eklavya schools, roads and employment generation for tribal youths. Many projects are going on. Recently both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah came here and they have given us assurances,” Koda added.

Political analysts believe that Congress candidate Sona Ram Sinku will be a tough competitor despite Jagaannathpur being a stronghold of Madhu Koda. “Congress candidate Sona Ram Sinku, who is also the sitting legislator, has developed his own support base over the last five years and is expected to put up a tough fight,” said political analyst Sudhir Pal. “It is true that there was a anti-BJP wave in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls in Kolhan division, which includes Jagannathpur assembly constituency. On the other hand, if Geeta Koda wins from this seat, it wouldn’t be because of the BJP’s organisational base but because of her own support base.”

The West Singhbhum district is affected by Left Wing Extremism (LWE), but also has rich mineral deposits.

Party workers said that Madhu Loda is working behind the scenes to ensure his wife’s victory. He was convicted in December 2017 under the anti-corruption law in a case relating to the allotment of a coal blocks during his tenure as the chief minister of the state from 2006 to 2008. A special CBI court in Delhi sentenced Koda to undergo rigorous imprisonment for three years.The Supreme Court in October this year dismissed his petition seeking a stay on his conviction under the Prevention of Corruption Act to enable him to contest the upcoming assembly elections in the state. But the BJP nominated his wife instead.

“I am fortunate the BJP has kept faith on me and has given me a ticket. The days of JMM and Congress are numbered. BJP will win back all the lost seats in West Singhbhum this time,” Geeta Koda said.

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