Canvassing reaching crescendo as countdown for Jamshedpur, Singhbhum LS seats begins

Mail News Service

Jamshedpur, May 9: With prime minister Narendra Modi, Rajnath Singh, Rahul Gandhi, Navjot Singh Sidhu, Hema Malini, Hemant Soren, Amit Shah and other big and not so big leaders canvassing for their party candidates for the Jamshedpur, Singhbhum and Khunti Lok Sabha seats, the poll scenario is �hotting� up as the countdown to the Festival of Democracy has begun.

With the Khunti EVMs sealed along with the kismet of BJP stalwart and former chief minister Arjun Munda and Congress hope Kalicharan Munda, all attention is now fixed on the Jamshedpur and Singhbhum seats for which voting will be held on Sunday, May 12. Going by the scenario where 23 candidates will be vying for the Jamshedpur seat and nine for the Singhbhum throne, the contest of giants has been trimmed down to two each for the two seats. While the political sky on the Jamshedpur Lok Sabha seat will rumble with the might of NDA candidate and sitting BJP parliamentarian Bidyut Baran Mahto who has many successful achievements for the people of his constituency and those who think that this soft spoken man has no rural base are day dreaming. He also had his star campaigner in BJP president Amit Shah and other leaders worthy of mention. He will be up against the battle scarred veteran of many a battle and sitting legislator Champai Soren the JMM face of the Opposition Grand Alliance. The 21 other candidates including the onetime mighty Surya Singh Besra of Jharkhand Peoples Party are seemingly out of contention for the ticket to Parliament. There are 16,70,371 voters to build or break political aspirations for the Jamshedpur Lok Sabha seat. They will decide if the lotus will bloom or the bow and arrow hold sway.

The contest for the Singhbhum seat is being scripted on similar lines. NDA candidate, BJP state president and sitting parliamentarian Laxman Gilua is being challenged by Opposition Grand Alliance�s Congress card Geeta Koda. Laxman Gilua is a seasoned campaigner and he has created many strongholds in his constituency. He has done appreciable work in his political domain and the publicity he has received from his party bosses including prime minister Narendra Modi and home minister Rajnath Singh in addition to his own vote catching charisma seems to be one up on his nearest rival Geeta Koda who too has been backed by Congress president Rahul Gandhi and the nonchalant Navjot Singh Sidhu.

Geeta too has her own following. Constituencies like Jagganathpur and a few other pockets seemingly swear by her. She too has been making extensive rounds of far and near places of her Singhbhum Lok Sabha constituency to woo voters with lots of promises and dreams. The poll battle will concentrate on Laxman and Geeta for the final supremacy to be decided by 12, 57,462 voters. The other seven candidates are non starters for all practical purposes for the marathon to Delhi.

With election campaigning to end on Friday, May 10 at 4 pm, a battle royal is on the card for both, the Jamshedpur and Singhbhum Lok Sabha seats. A neck to neck finish is very much expected. Political pundits and fence sitters are finding it difficult to compile a confident analysis. But then, one never knows who the political cupid will wink at.