Far away from the controversy surrounding his son Madhu Koda’s alleged involvement in a Rs 4,000-crore scam, farmer Rasika Koda, 68, leads a simple life tilling his half-acre land here in southern Jharkhand. Koda family assets
Rasika Koda spoke to Hindustan Times on Tuesday morning while he was having rice and daal (pulses), squatting on the floor of his threadbare house in Patahatu, a nondescript village 250 km south of Ranchi.
“Madhu is a simple human being like me. His character is clean,” Rasika said as he hurried off to work in his field with wife Kuni Kui, 60.
“My son is paying the price for being one of the most popular chief ministers and tribal leaders the state has ever produced,” Rasika said, blaming the Congress for “framing” him in corruption cases.
When Madhu Koda became Chief Minister in September 2006, he invited his father to stay with him in his plush official bungalow but the latter declined. “I feel uncomfortable in the city,” he said.
Rasika said his politician-son sends his parents some money regularly and helped them expand their land to the half acres they now own.
{{/usCountry}}Rasika said his politician-son sends his parents some money regularly and helped them expand their land to the half acres they now own.
{{/usCountry}}With 25 houses, Patahatu village saw electricity five years ago when Madhu Koda was a cabinet minister in the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government headed by Arjun Munda.
Most residents of the village haven’t heard of the controversy in which Madhu Koda finds himself. And they’re not bothered.
“There is no television in our village. Newspapers don’t come here either as no one subscribes to them,” said, B. Hembrom, 40, one of the few women in the village aware of Koda’s alleged crimes. She works as a saleswoman at a medicine shop in Jagannathpur town, 7 km from the village.
Muhammad Gulshed, 19, who owns a shop selling mobile phones at Jagannathpur market said, “There must be something wrong at the bottom of it all, else the raids would not have continued for so long.” But he quickly added,
“Koda is a nice human being, and if he contests again, we will certainly vote for him.”
(With inputs from Manoj Choudhary)