By IANS
Ranchi : The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) is banking on sympathy votes to retain the Jamshedpur Lok Sabha seat in the by-election scheduled Wednesday.
Suman Mahato, wife of slain JMM MP Sunil Mahto, is contesting from the seat on the JMM ticket. Sunil was killed by Maoist rebels in March this year.
The acquittal of former central minister and JMM chief Shibu Soren in a murder case last week has been a shot in the arm for his party.
Soren, who was released from the Dumka central jail Saturday, campaigned in favour of the JMM candidate and addressed several rallies. “The victory of Suman Mahto is a foregone conclusion. The people of Jamshedpur will ensure her victory,” said Soren.
JMM has used the pictures of slain MP and Soren on banners and hoardings to garner sympathy votes. Chief Minister Madhu Koda and other United Progressive Alliance (UPA) leaders have also campaigned for the JMM candidate. The fight is primarily between JMM and the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Infighting has come to the surface in BJP after it fielded Dinesh Sarangi, a legislator, from Jamshedpur.
Shailendra Mahto, who joined BJP after quitting JMM, was hoping for a ticket, but Sarangi was chosen by the central leadership. Denied a ticket, Shailendra has come out against BJP and started campaigning for JMM.
“Our leaders are united and we will certainly win the election,” said former chief minister and BJP leader Arjun Munda. Asked about the sympathy vote on which JMM is banking, he said, “People know the truth and the election result will clear everything”.
The other candidates in the fray are Salkhan Murmu of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) who led the domiciliary movement and Bikash Mukherjee of the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (JVM). He is mainly banking on Bengali votes that constitute around 10 percent of the electorate.