By Nityanand Shukla, IANS,
Ranchi : The Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are trying to woo voters in the ongoing Jharkhand assembly polls by bringing chief ministers – considered role models of development – of different states ruled by either party to campaign for party candidates.
The BJP has fielded Chhattisgarh’s Raman Singh, Gujarat’s Narendra Modi and ally Janata Dal-United’s (JD-U) Nitish Kumar, who rules Bihar. Raman Singh campaigned for four days, Modi campaigned for two days and Nitish Kumar campaigned for seven days in Jharkhand, addressing several rallies jointly with BJP president Rajnath Singh.
The Congress, on the other, has fielded its ally, National Conference’s Omar Abdullah, who rules Jammu and Kashmir. Abdullah campaigned in Palamau district for three days. Meanwhile, Ashok Chavan and Bhupendra Singh Hooda, chief ministers of party-ruled Maharashtra and Haryana, respectively, will campaign Sunday.
“The motive to use chief ministers in the election campaign is to gain confidence of the voters. Raman Singh, Narendra Modi and Nitish Kumar have a clean image and are dedicated to development of their respective states. These chief ministers have fulfilled their promises,” state BJP chief Raghubar Das told IANS.
He said the BJP was not like the Congress which makes “hollow promises”.
“Raman Singh was voted to power because he fulfilled his promise to provide rice and wheat at Re.1 per kg. In Jharkhand, we have also promised to provide rice and wheat at Re.1 per kg to below poverty line (BPL) families,” Das said.
Congress has also fielded those chief ministers who were voted to power a second time. “Congress is concerned for the development of Jharkhand. Chavan and Hooda were voted to power a second time and will campaign Sunday. They are role models of development,” Congress’s Jharkhand unit general secretary Shailesh Sinha told IANS.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati also campaigned in Jharkhand for her party nominees. Her Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is contesting all the 81 seats.
All four former chief ministers of the state – Babulal Marandi, Arjun Munda, Madhu Koda and Shibu Soren – also campaigned. All of them are once again in the race to become chief minister.