2008 Simaria by-election
On 4 February 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]
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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 6 August 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 10 January 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 16 January 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 17 January 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 16 January 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 death 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 16 January 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 7 February 2008. Ram Chandra Ram was declared as winner.[1] He took his oath a Member of the Legislative Assembly in Ranchi on 8 February 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]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CPI | Ram Chandra Ram | 30,700 | 26.31% | +3.15% | |
| JVM(P) | Jay 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 | ||||
- Bhogta contested the 2005 election as an Independent
- Compared to the INC candidate in 2005, Ishwari Ram Paswan. Baitha stood as a RJD candidate in 2005, and had obtained 16.92%
- Turi stood as a JMM candidate in 2005
References
- Election Commission of India. Bye Election of Assembly Constituency of Jharkhand – Assembly Constituency – 26- Simaria (SC)
- WebIndia123. Jharkhand BJP legislator dead
- Election Commission of India. STATISTICAL REPORT ON GENERAL ELECTION, 2005 TO THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF JHARKHAND
- OneIndia. UGDP withdraws nomination; 14 in the fray for Simaria bypoll
- nerve.in. Congress makes clear stand against Jharkhand chief minister
- nerve.in. Cracks in UPA before Simeria by-election
- OneIndia. Campaigning ends in Simaria by-poll constituency
- Election Commission of India. STATISTICAL REPORT ON GENERAL ELECTION, 2000 TO THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF BIHAR
- The Telegraph. Ranchi Diary
- Outlook. Jharkhand's political 'uncertainty' continues
- Financial Express. Cong not consulting UPA members: Lalu Archived 2015-09-30 at the Wayback Machine
- The Telegraph. Parties gear up for Simaria war
- TwoCirles.net. Jharkhand's Simeria by-election sees 45 percent polling
- The Telegraph. Lady with election victory key – Mum on extremism, this Independent candidate pledges the moon
- The Telegraph. Simaria bats for young guns
- The Telegraph. UPA allies gun for each other in Simaria
- The Telegraph. CPI ticket on strong wicket
- OneIndia. JMM to support CPI candidate in Simaria bypoll
- Indian Express. CPI wrests Simaria seat from BJP
- OneIndia. Jharkhand Party candidate richest in Simaria by poll
- The Telegraph. Rebel leader seeks road to Assembly
- webindia123. Maoist zonal commander to fight bypoll in J'khand
- Times of India. CPI prefers to maintain distance from Congress in Jharkhand
- OneIndia. CPI candidate files nomination for Simaria bypoll
- twocirles.net. CPI wins Simeria by-election in Jharkhand
- The Hindu. 46 per cent voting in Simaria by-poll
- The Telegraph. Cong leaders firm on teaching Koda lesson