By IANS
Ranchi : Anticipating early assembly elections, all prominent political parties in Jharkhand are getting into ‘rally mode’ to woo the electorate.
With the Congress party keeping the Madhu Koda government on tenterhooks following its 60-day ultimatum to speed up development work, the parties feel that early polls could be a certainty.
Though the ultimatum lapsed on Jan 15, the Congress party has not taken a decision on withdrawing support to the government. Koda, an independent legislator, heads the United Progressive Alliance government.
The Congress party was the first party to hold a rally in the state. On Jan 12, it organised a rally in the coal city of Dhanbad that was attended by the state in-charge and union minister Ajay Maken and state Congress president Pradeep Kumar Balmuchu among others.
The Congress leaders targeted both the Madhu Koda government and former rulers Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the rally.
The Janata Dal-United (JD-U), a key constituent of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), will hold a rally in Ranchi Jan 31. The JD-U rally will be followed by a Jharkhand Vikas Morcha Democratic (JVM-D) rally Feb 6.
The JVM-D is headed by Babulal Marandi, the first chief minister of Jharkhand who quit the BJP in June 2006.
“Mid-term election is the only way out to end the chaotic government. The Congress party ultimatum has further deepened the chaos in the state. Our ‘parivartan’ rally will expose the Congress and misdeeds of the ministers in the government,” said Marandi.
The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), unwilling to be left far behind, will hold a rally in the state capital Feb 14.
The BJP, which ruled the state for six years, will organise its ‘Jharkhand bachao’ (save Jharkhand) rally here Feb 23.
The BJP has already started campaigning by organising ‘padyatras’ (walkathons) in various parts of the state.
“The Congress is solely responsible for the present mess in the state. We will organise a rally to rid people of the corrupt government which has failed on all fronts. The ministers are neck deep in corruption,” said P.N. Singh, state BJP president.
“Our rally will be attended by our party’s prime ministerial candidate L.K. Advani and party president Rajnath Singh,” added Singh.
The state went to polls in 2005 and has a couple of more years to go before the assembly’s term ends.