High-voltage bypoll campaign ends for Godda, Panki by-polls
Godda and Panki gear up for by-elections tomorrow; poll panel makes elaborate arrangements
The campaigning for the Panki and Godda bypolls concluded on Saturday, with the two constituencies scheduled for polling on Monday.
In Godda, 15 candidates are in the fray, where a triangular contest between the Bharatiya Janata Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha is on the cards.
The election commission has made elaborate security arrangement for fair and peaceful polling.
In Panki, the contest is between the BJP, JMM and Congress, with a direct showdown expected between the latter two.
RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav campaigned extensively in Gooda for his party’s candidate, Sanjay Prasad Yadav, with Congress leaders also lobbying for their allies.
For the JMM, Sibu Soren and his son Hemant remained the star campaigners, with former minister Hussein Ansari, former speaker SS Bhokta, former minister Mathura Mahto, Supriyo Bhattacharya, Vinod Pandey, party MLAs Deepak Birua and Kunal Sarangi also touring the area.
Hemant Soren has campaigned extensively addressing 16 election rallies in Godda and Panki. His father and JMM chief Sibu Soren addressed three election rallies each in the two constituencies.
In Panki, Sibu Soren attacked both the BJP and the Congress while campaigning for his candidate, Sashi Bhushan Mehta, at Leslieganj.
State Congress president Sukhdeo Bhagat and AICC secretary in charge of Jharkhand Tarachand Bhagora, former speaker Alamgir Alam, former Union minister Subodh Kant Sahay, Dheeraj Prasad Sahu and Pradeep Balmuchu campaigned for their party’s nominee, Devendra Singh, with Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) president Babulal Marandi and RJD’s Annapurna Devi and Girinath Singh also coming out in his support.
Lalu too visited Panki, attending two election rallies by road after the Palamu district administration didn’t permit the landing of his helicopter.
The BJP too campaigned extensively in Panki, with the star campaigners include chief minister Raghubar Das, state president Ravindra Rai, CP Singh, Randhir Singh, Raj Paliwar, Ram Chadra Chandravanshi (ministers) and movie star and Minister of Parliament Manoj Tiwary.
