When polling for the fourth phase of the general elections starts on April 29, more than 35 lakh voters across Lohardaga, Palamu and Chatra parliamentary constituencies in Jharkhand will exercise their franchise to choose their representatives in the Lok Sabha.
Polls for 14 seats in Jharkhand are scheduled to be held in four phases, beginning with three LS seats on April 29. The Lohardaga seat is reserved for Scheduled Tribes and Palamu for Scheduled Castes. Currently, the BJP holds 12 of the 14 LS seats in the state, including the three going to polls initially.
Barring Chatra, where the opposition grand alliance partners, Congress and the RJD, are engaged in a friendly fight, the BJP is pitched in a direct battle with the opposition alliance in Lohardaga and Palamu.
In Lohardaga, Sudershan Bhagat, who is representing the seat since 2009, is facing a tough battle this time round as he is locked in a direct contest with Lohardaga legislator and former Jharkhand Congress chief Sukhdeo Bhagat.
Sukhdeo Bhagat is contesting on a Congress ticket as part of the opposition alliance in the state, hence there is likely to be a consolidation of opposition votes. In 2014, despite the huge Modi wave, Sudershan Bhagat had just scraped through with over 6,000 votes in a multi-corner contest.
{{/usCountry}}Sukhdeo Bhagat is contesting on a Congress ticket as part of the opposition alliance in the state, hence there is likely to be a consolidation of opposition votes. In 2014, despite the huge Modi wave, Sudershan Bhagat had just scraped through with over 6,000 votes in a multi-corner contest.
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Lohardaga, a reserved seat for scheduled castes, is dominated by tribals. The seat has a sizeable tribal Christian population, who are expected to polarize against the BJP due to local factors such as the Pathalgadi movement in neighbouring districts and the anti-conversion law legislated by the state government.
The BJP won both the Palamu and Chatra seats by a handsome margin in 2014.Former state DGP VD Ram won from Palamu and Sunil Singh, despite being an ‘outsider’, won from Chatra.
The party has repeated both of them in 2019 despite protests from local party workers in both constituencies. BJP leader and Latehar district board vice-chairman Rajendra Saw has turned rebel and is contesting as an independent from Chatra.
While Ram is locked in a direct contest with RJD’s Ghutan Ram in Palamu, Sunil Singh is having a breather as RJD and Congress are engaged in a friendly fight making the contest triangular.
Also read: Many crorepati, criminal candidates in 3 Jharkhand Lok Sabha seats voting on April 29
Security beefed up:
Ahead of the fourth phase of elections, around 38,400 personnel would be deployed to provide security cover. CRPF commandant Kailash Arya said that 154 companies of the central paramilitary forces would be deployed as per the Election Commission’s guidelines.
“The strength of security forces in each area would be decided after security assessment of the polling booths is done. After completion of the first phase, these companies would be moved to other areas,” he said.
Recently, Inspector General of Police (provisions) Arun Kumar Singh issued a letter to concerned police officers regarding requisition of vehicles for the movement of troops. According to the letter, 94 companies of the paramilitary forces are already stationed in the state.
An additional 60 companies of CPMF along with 52 echo companies of the Indian Reserve Battalion/ State Indian Reserve Battalion/State Armed Police/Jharkhand Armed Police will be moved to the districts ahead of the elections, it said.