Jamshedpur, Aug. 9: In an unprecedented violation of administrative norms, chief minister Madhu Koda waited for 15 minutes outside the chamber of the deputy commissioner (DC), waiting for him, and sat before him for another 15 minutes, this afternoon.
Others, including Sudhir Mahto, Stephen Marandi, Nalin Soren, Dulal Bhuiyan and Bhanu Pratap Sahi, also waited for the DC, Nitin Madan Kulkarni. They all were giving company to JMM candidate Suman Mahto, who filed her nominations for the Jamshedpur byelections today.
The incident of a chief executive of the state sitting before a DC is unprecedented. Sources said chief ministers or Prime Ministers do come to the DC office and sit before him during elections, but as candidates. More than 100 JMM supporters and many security guards gathered inside the DC’s office, too.
Protests and chaos marked the entire process of filing of nomination by Mahto today with Koda’s commandos assaulting cameramen who had gathered there. Three cameramen, including a photojournalist of The Telegraph, were injured when the commandos assaulted them with rifle butts. One of them, Manpreet Singh, has been admitted to the Tata Main Hospital.
Agitated journalists and photographers blocked Koda’s entry, shouting slogans. Koda said action would be taken against the commandos and proper treatment would be provided to the injured. He also visited Singh in the hospital.
The district administration, however, did not file any case against all those who openly violated the code of conduct, as it had done yesterday against BJP candidate Dinesh Sarangi, Salkhan Murmu (BSP) and B.P. Singh (Shiv Sena) on same grounds.
When asked, the DC “defended” the JMM workers saying they were not carrying party flags and were also not shouting any slogans.
BJP and BSP has come down heavily against the administration’s partial approach. BJP MLA Sarayu Roy said the party has taken the matter very seriously and is going to complaint to the Election Commission very soon.
Roy also questioned the misuse of official machinery by Koda.
Besides Mahto, six candidates filed their nominations today. These included Bikas Mukherjee of Jharkhand Vikas Morcha. Tomorrow is the last day of filing nominations.
