Coal capital Dhanbad, one of the most polluted industrial towns in Jharkhand, has made civic cleanliness the key issue in its upcoming municipal polls.

Clean roads, free-flowing drains and fresh air are part of the election manifestos of all the 26 OBC candidates vying for the mayor's post in Dhanbad Municipal Corporation.

But, around 7.99 lakh voters - who will decide the fates of the 26 mayoral hopefuls and 729 aspirants eyeing 55 councillor seats - are unlikely to get swayed by these pre-poll promises on Tuesday.

Voters are keeping cards close to their chest, making it difficult to predict polls results.

As the Dhanbad mayor's seat is reserved for a representative of the OBC, it has automatically pushed the powerful Singh Mansion and incumbent mayor Indu Singh out of the fray.

The changed dynamics have prompted Chandrasekhar Agarwal, Rajkumar Agarwal and Bhrigunath Bhagat — all from the BJP — and Congress’s Shamsher Alam, Santosh Mahto, Ravindra Verma to make a beeline for voters. Sadanand alias Mantu Mahto of the Ajsu and Dinesh Mahto of the JMM are also in the race.

Builder Chandrasekhar (55) is among the frontrunners. A close aide of chief minister Raghubar Das, he enjoys the support of senior BJP leaders and a large faction of Marwari and traders’ communities.

The exit of the party’s “official” candidate Pradeep Kumar Sonthalia from the race has also boosted his chances. Industrialist Sonthalia had filed his nomination for the mayoral poll but later backed out, citing large-scale corruption in the polls.

But, with tacit support from local MP P.N. Singh, MLA Raj Sinha and Sindri MLA Phulchand Mandal, who were initially backing Sonthalia, another BJP leader Rajkumar (53) is posing a serious challenge to Chandrasekhar.
With an easy-to-approach image, Rajkumar holds a strong support base in Jharia.

Being the lone minority candidate in the fray, youth Congress leader Shamsher Alam (45) is the dark horse. Apart from traditional Congress votes that include that of SCs and STs, Alam is aggressively campaigning in minority-dominated areas like Jamadoba, Bhowra, Wasseypur, Upper Kulhi, Ekra and others.