Simaria by-election, 2008

Simaria by-election, 2008
India
 
Candidate Ram Chandra Ram Jai Prakash Singh Bhogta Yogendra Nath Baitha
Party CPI JVM(P) INC
Popular vote 30,700 23,092 19,700
Percentage 26.31% 19.79% 16.88%

On February 4, 2008 a by-election was held in for the Simaria (SC) seat of the Legislative Assembly of the Indian state of Jharkhand. The by-election was called after the death of the sitting MLA Upendra Nath Das.[1]

Precedents

Bharatiya Janata Party legislator Upendra Nath Das, who had been elected from Simaria in the 2005 Jharkhand Legislative Assembly election, died from cancer on August 6, 2007.[2] In the 2005 election his main competitors had been Ram Chandra Ram from the Communist Party of India and Yogendra Nath Baitha from the Rashtriya Janata Dal.[3] The notification for the by-poll was issued on January 10, 2008.[4]

Before the by-election the ruling coalition led by Madhu Koda held 42 out of the 82 seats of the Legislative Assembly; 17 from Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, 9 from the Indian National Congress, 7 from RJD and 9 independents.[5] As United Progressive Alliance partners could not agree of a single candidate, Koda declared himself neutral in the by-election and did not campaign for any candidate.[6]

Candidates

Fifteen nominations were presented for the by-election, but one candidate (Binod Bihari Paswan of UGDP) withdrew from the race.[1][4] In total 12 men and 2 women stood as candidates.[1] Nine of them stood as independents.[1]

Yogendra Nath Baitha

The by-election coincided with the lapse of a 60-day deadline that the Indian National Congress had put forth to Koda to comply with a number of demands, and the party threatened to bring down the government if unfulfilled.[7] On January 16, 2008 the Indian National Congress declared that it would contest the by-election on its own.[5]

Yogendra Nath Baitha had won the Simaria seat in the 2000 Bihar Legislative Assembly election.[8] He had served as the Jharkhand State Committee president of RJD.[9] But ahead of the Simaria by-poll, RJD withdrew Baitha as its candidate for the sake of UPA unity. In response Baitha broke with the party and contested the by-poll as an Indian National Congress candidate instead.[10][11] Baitha presented his nomination papers on January 17, 2008 in the presence of Jharkhand Congress state President Pradeep Kumar Balmuchu.[12] One hypothesis on why Congress decided to break UPA ranks was that it sought to use the by-election to 'test the waters' ahead of the 2009 Legislative Assembly election.[13] Notably, Congress leaders had expressed dissatisfaction with the performance of the Koda cabinet in terms of development and corruption.[5]

Union Ministers Ajay Maken and Subodh Kant Sahay campaigned in favour of Baitha.[6]

Anjali Bhogta

26-year old Anjali Bhogta contested the election as an independent. A key demand of her campaign was the set-up a NTPC power plant at Tandwa. Her husband had been jailed, accused of belonging to the Tritiya Prastuti Committee (a Naxalite splinter group). Bhogta herself had been a BJP member.[14] Fearing that her candidacy would draw voters from J.P.S. Bhogta, the JVM(P) actively tried to convince her to withdraw her nomination.[14]

J.P.S. Bhogta

The Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) candidate was Jai Prakash Singh Bhogta, a political newcomer in his late 20s.[1][15] Bhogta is the son of former legislator Mahendra Bhogta.[16] Press reports claimed that JVM(P) would hire two helicopters to help Bhogta campaign across the constituency.[16] Key JVM(P) leaders like Pradeep Yadav, Ravindra Rai, Theodore Kido and Saba Ahmad came to the constituency to campaign for Bhogta.[16]

Kumar Ujjwal Das

On January 16, 2008 BJP declared that it would field Kumar Ujjwal Das, Upendra Nath Das' son and political newcomer, as its candidate.[17][18] The party hoped to benefit sympathy wave after the deah of Das.[16] He was a 26-year old management graduate of Jadavpur University.[16] Ahead of the election Kumar Ujjwal Das faced opposition from BJP legislator Satyanand Bhogta from the nearby Chatra constituency who wished to field his wife as the BJP candidate instead.[17]

Former Union ministers Yashwant Sinha and Shatrughan Sinha, former Chief Minister Arjun Munda as well as Jharkhand BJP chief P.N. Singh campaigned for Das.[7][19]

Meena Devi

The Jharkhand Party candidate Meena Devi was noted for declaring the largest assets, 1,430,000 Indian rupees and two buses.[20]

Kuldeep Ganjhu

Kuldeep Ganjhu contested the election behind bars as an independent.[16] Once a Communist Party of India (Maoist) zonal commander, Ganjhu had been arrested in 2004.[21] Ganjhu had requested to get a Bahujan Samaj Party ticket to contest the by-election.[22]

Ram Chandra Ram

CPI candidate Ram Chandra Ram had contested the Simaria seat since 1985.[17] In the by-poll Ram's candidacy was backed-up by RJD, Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM).[23][24] CPI Member of Parliament Bhubneshwar Prasad Mehta declared Ram as the joint candidate of the United Progressive Alliance.[17]

JMM declared its support for Ram on January 16, 2008 (after RJD and CPI(M) had already pledged their support), calling for unity of UPA partners to defeat communal forces.[18] However, the Indian National Congress (key constituent of UPA) hesitated to support Ram, seemingly wanting to field a candidate of its own instead.[18] Mehta requested Congress president Sonia Gandhi to withdraw their candidate in favour of Ram.[6]

Seeking to distance itself from the Koda cabinet, CPI requested that neither Koda nor any of his ministers would campaign in favour of Ram.[16] Union Railway Minister and RJD leader Lalu Prasad Yadav campaigned in favour of Ram.[25]

Security measures

The Communist Party of India (Maoist) called for a boycott of the election.[13] All 228 voting stations were declared as sensitive.[13] 20 companies of paramilitary and other security forces were deployed across the constituency to ensure that the election was held.[13] Authorities organized an aerial vigil on polling day.[7] BJP legislator Satyanand Bhogta was put under preventive detention for some time during the election day.[13]

Voting

Voting passed peacefully.[26] Low turn-out was attributed to poll boycott and poor weather.[13]

Result

The counting of votes and declaration of the result was done on February 7, 2008. Ram Chandra Ram was declared as winner.[1] He took his oath a Member of the Legislative Assembly in Ranchi on February 8, 2008.[27]

The result was a set-back for BJP leader Arjun Munda, as it was the fourth consecutive by-election loss for BJP in the state.[19]

Simaria by-election, 2008
Party Candidate Votes % ±
CPI Ram Chandra Ram 30,700 26.31% +3.15%
JVM(P) Jai Prakash Singh Bhogta 23,092 19.79% +16.86%[lower-alpha 1]
INC Yogendra Nath Baitha 19,700 16.88% +12.13%[lower-alpha 2]
BJP Kumar Ujjwal Das 18,234 15.63% -14.56%
Independent Anjali Bhogta 4,593 3.93%
Independent Sunil Kumar Paswan 4,493 3.85%
Independent Manoj Rajak 3,350 2.87%
Jharkhand Party Meena Devi 2,190 1.87%
Independent Kuldeep Ganjhu 2,156 1.84%
Independent Ramtahal Turi 2,074 1.77% -1.98%[lower-alpha 3]
Independent Raj Kumar Rajak 1,974 1.69% +0.8%
Independent Kailash Bhuiyan 1,564 1.34%
Independent Tarkeshwar Ganjhu 1,508 1.29%
Independent Gulab Ram 1,032 0.88%
Majority 7,608 6.52%
Turnout 116,660 48.0% +3.29%
CPI gain from BJP Swing
  1. ↑ Bhogta contested the 2005 election as an Independent
  2. ↑ Compared to the INC candidate in 2005, Ishwari Ram Paswan. Baitha stood as a RJD candidate in 2005, and had obtained 16.92%
  3. ↑ Turi stood as a JMM candidate in 2005

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Election Commission of India. Bye Election of Assembly Constituency of Jharkhand – Assembly Constituency – 26- Simaria (SC)
  2. ↑ WebIndia123. Jharkhand BJP legislator dead
  3. ↑ Election Commission of India. STATISTICAL REPORT ON GENERAL ELECTION, 2005 TO THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF JHARKHAND
  4. 1 2 OneIndia. UGDP withdraws nomination; 14 in the fray for Simaria bypoll
  5. 1 2 3 nerve.in. Congress makes clear stand against Jharkhand chief minister
  6. 1 2 3 nerve.in. Cracks in UPA before Simeria by-election
  7. 1 2 3 OneIndia. Campaigning ends in Simaria by-poll constituency
  8. ↑ Election Commission of India. STATISTICAL REPORT ON GENERAL ELECTION, 2000 TO THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF BIHAR
  9. ↑ The Telegraph. Ranchi Diary
  10. ↑ Outlook. Jharkhand's political 'uncertainty' continues
  11. ↑ Financial Express. Cong not consulting UPA members: Lalu
  12. ↑ The Telegraph. Parties gear up for Simaria war
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 TwoCirles.net. Jharkhand's Simeria by-election sees 45 percent polling
  14. 1 2 The Telegraph. Lady with election victory key – Mum on extremism, this Independent candidate pledges the moon
  15. ↑ The Telegraph. Simaria bats for young guns
  16. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 The Telegraph. UPA allies gun for each other in Simaria
  17. 1 2 3 4 The Telegraph. CPI ticket on strong wicket
  18. 1 2 3 OneIndia. JMM to support CPI candidate in Simaria bypoll
  19. 1 2 Indian Express. CPI wrests Simaria seat from BJP
  20. ↑ OneIndia. Jharkhand Party candidate richest in Simaria by poll
  21. ↑ The Telegraph. Rebel leader seeks road to Assembly
  22. ↑ webindia123. Maoist zonal commander to fight bypoll in J'khand
  23. ↑ Times of India. CPI prefers to maintain distance from Congress in Jharkhand
  24. ↑ OneIndia. CPI candidate files nomination for Simaria bypoll
  25. ↑ twocirles.net. CPI wins Simeria by-election in Jharkhand
  26. ↑ The Hindu. 46 per cent voting in Simaria by-poll
  27. ↑ The Telegraph. Cong leaders firm on teaching Koda lesson
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