Assembly elections have been announced for Jharkhand. The small state, now under Central rule, could have gone to the polls earlier last month along with Maharashtra, Haryana and Arunachal Pradesh, but New Delhi had decided that tackling the Maoists was more important and a democratic procedure could wait. In the context of the overall situation created by the ultra-leftists, such thinking was along correct lines. However, after the Congress managed to scrape through in Maharashtra and Haryana, the party decided to try its luck in Jharkhand in the belief that its principal opponent, the Bharatiya Janata Party, is very much on the backfoot these days. Political expediency, once again, was made to prevail over administrative need.

There is cause for concern here. During elections, no political party wants to alienate any section of the people and the Congress cannot be an exception. It will definitely put pressure on the home ministry to go slow against the Maoists in Jharkhand, a state where they are perceived to be at their strongest. Indications of such pressure can already be had with the party bigwigs suggesting that the Maoist threat be met with more development funds than force. Of course, once the election process gets underway, there will be restrictions on the release of such funds but the party is hoping to show its human face by voicing such sentiments. The gainer, in the process, are the Maoists.

They stand to gain otherwise as well. Their influence on the tribals will most certainly not be ignored by any of the contending parties, including the Congress. Deals may well be struck, particularly because the Maoists’ aversion to parliamentary democracy has not, in the past, been known to have made them stay away from helping ‘bourgeois’ parties. In West Bengal, for instance, one of their leaders went out of his way to make public who he wanted to see as the next chief minister. Such deals come with a price, and since the Congress is in power at the Centre, who knows what will be asked for, and promised, in Jharkhand? Other parties may also approach the Maoists for favours, but since they do not call the shots in New Delhi, their bargaining power will be that much less.

Bad bargain

This is no idle speculation. Maoist activities in Jharkhand have been going on for long but no political party in power there has been known to show any great interest in curbing them. For one thing, in the past, there has never been any serious attempt to seal off the border with West Bengal. The only explanation seems to be behind-the-scene fraternity, if not as a matter of policy then certainly as a way of peaceful co-existence.

However, with the Congress having in its wisdom opted for elections in the state, the biggest question is whether it will go alone or, keeping the recent Bihar by-elections in mind, consider favourably the Rashtriya Janata Dal’s continued plea for a joint fight. There is also Shibu Soren and his Jharkhand Mukti Morcha. Is he still an untouchable, or will the demands of the situation make the Congress think otherwise? As for the BJP, it must now be keeping its fingers crossed lest the divisions in the state unit rear their head. Its ally, the Janata Dal (United), will also be anxious to find out if its comparatively better showing in running Bihar has had any positive impact on the electorate in the neighbouring state.

For peace-loving Jharkhandis, the issue is Maoist depredation and they will go to the polling stations with this uppermost in their minds. Peace, most certainly, will be on the lips of every candidate and voters may, while separating the wheat from the chaff, decide to act on their own. This, if it were to happen, will be a new experience in Jharkhand and provide all and sundry, including Maoists, with food for thought.