Ranchi: The BJP’s choice of candidate for Dhanbad parliamentary seat, Dhullu Mahto, has drawn criticism from several quarters in the constituency where the party leadership dropped three-time sitting MP Pashupati Nath Singh.
Two influential figures, Krishna Agrawal and Saryu Roy, have already made their opposition known against the candidature of Mahto as the BJP candidate allegedly faces several criminal charges.
The matter has taken a serious turn after an FIR was lodged against Mahto for allegedly threatening Agrawal for opposing his candidature.
Agrawal, the district president of Marwari Sammelan, had written to BJP state chief Babulal Marandi on 28 March, to reconsider the party’s candidate from Dhanbad.
In his letter, Agrawal has alleged that 49 cases are registered against Baghmara MLA Dhullu Mahto and that he has been convicted in four different cases. “The MLA who claimed to speak against the mafia has himself become a version of the mafia,” he wrote.
Roy, a minister in the erstwhile Raghubar Das-led BJP government, along with Agrawal on Friday held a joint press conference and opposed Mahto’s candidature. The Independent MLA of Jamshedpur East has also tweeted about the cases that Mahto is facing.
.@narendramodi धनबाद के घोषित भाजपा प्रत्याशी पर भा॰द॰वि॰ की संगीन धाराओं मे 49 आपराधिक मामले दर्ज हैं,जिनमें से 4 में सजा हो चुकी है.यह आधिकारिक मुहरबंद सूची धनबाद के तत्कालीन एसएसपी ने न्यायालय को सौंपा है.आय से अधिक सम्पत्ति का पीआईएल न्यायालय में लंबित है.यह सूची मेरे पास है.
— Saryu Roy (@roysaryu) March 29, 2024
But why Mahto?
Mahto has won the assembly election from Baghmara three times in a row. His first win came in 2009 when he was with the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (JVM). In 2014, he switched over to the BJP and then went on to win the polls that year and in 2019.
Moreover, the talk in Dhanbad was that Pashupati Nath Singh, the sitting MP, was seen less on the ground given that he is going to turn 75.
“His age factor and absence in the organisation and among the public can be an important reason (for being dropped). There have been complaints from the common man that the Dhanbad MP could not get projects done as was the case earlier. Dhanbad is known as the coal capital, but did not get AIIMS and airport. Both went to Deoghar. Railway facilities were not bolstered as expected,” political analyst Deepak Ambasth told ThePrint.
Singh has a clean image, but the BJP must have seen and understood something in its survey, he added.
Six assembly seats fall under Dhanbad parliamentary constituency. Out of these, five are with the BJP and one with the Congress. Mahto’s Baghmara assembly constituency, a part of Dhanbad district, is under Giridih parliamentary constituency.
झरिया विधानसभा के कतरास मोड़ स्थित यादव ट्रांसपोर्ट द्वारा भव्य स्वागत के लिए तहे दिल से आभार प्रकट करते हैं।
झरिया के समाजसेवी अपूर्व गुप्ता जी और राहुल गुप्ता जी के गुप्ता आवास पहुंचकर विजयी आशीर्वाद लिया।
भाजपा कार्यसमिति सदस्य सह भाजपा नेत्री भाभी @RaginiSingh7007 जी के… pic.twitter.com/QqTdANieaW
— ढुलू महतो (मोदी का परिवार) (@dhullu_mahto) March 31, 2024
Mahto is seen as a divisive yet powerful leader whose name often surfaces in the battle for supremacy in the coal belt of Jharkhand under which Dhanbad is a major centre.
The BJP MLA faces several charges ranging from assault on government employees, and disturbing peace to attempt to murder. According to the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) report, Mahto faced over two dozen charges under the Indian Penal Code. Two courts of Dhanbad have sentenced him to one-year imprisonment each in two cases, according to the report based on the information given by Mahto at the time of nomination in the 2019 Jharkhand election.
On Sunday, Roy at a press conference in Ranchi alleged that Mahto faces 13 cases of extortion and 15 under various sections of the Arms Act. “The BJP should answer under what circumstances Dhullu Mahto was made a candidate from Dhanbad,” he said.
Roy also alleged that OBCs and coal workers have faced the brunt of atrocities under Mahto. “Recently, a family had staged a 17-day dharna against him. Even after this, Dhullu Mahto claims that he is a ‘mashiha’ (messiah) of coal workers and the poor,” he added.
Chandankyari MLA Amar Kumar Bauri, the leader of the BJP legislative party in the Jharkhand assembly, suggested that Mahto was implicated by the JMM-Congress government.
“The party has given the ticket to a good worker. Most of the cases against Dhullu Mahto were registered with malice during the JMM-Congress government. Many cases are related to movements related to public interest. The party does not consider it very important to respond to the allegations of Saryu Roy,” Bauri told ThePrint.
Ambasth was of the opinion that the BJP was solely moving ahead with the goal of winning election at all cost.
“The BJP, which talks of being a party with a difference and honesty, only sees who can win — no matter what his/her image is, no matter how serious the allegations are,” the political analyst said.
“If we look at the cases registered against Dullu Mahto, the allegations are serious. As soon as Mahto got into controversy after getting the ticket, his supporters were seen mobilising (on the ground). It seems to be having an adverse effect on the political and social environment. But BJP’s goal is to win the election,’’ he asserted.
The Congress is yet to announce its candidate for Dhanbad. Roy, meanwhile, has indicated that he is willing to contest from Dhanbad if he is backed by the INDIA bloc. Dhanbad will vote on 25 May.
The BJP is contesting from 13 constituencies while the AJSU Party, its ally, will field its candidate from Giridih. In the 2019 general election, the BJP won 11 seats, while the AJSU Party, the Congress, and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha won one seat each.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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