Ranchi, April 25: After witnessing some hectic campaigning by stars like Hema Malini, Dharmendra, Jeetendra, Mukesh Khanna, Zeenat Aman and Asrani, Ranchi is all set to witness a straight fight between the BJP’s Ram Tahal Choudhary and Subodh Kant Sahay of the Congress.

Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Lal Krishna Advani and Sonia Gandhi have also visited the Jharkhand capital to seek votes for their respective party candidates.

After winning the Ranchi Lok Sabha seat in 1989, Sahay is geared up once again, with support from the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Communist Party of India (CPI), to give the BJP candidate a tough fight.

Choudhary has won from this Mahto-dominated constituency in the past four Lok Sabha polls.

After winning the 1989 election as a candidate of the erstwhile Janata Party, Sahay became the Union minister for internal security in the V.P. Singh and Chandrashekhar governments. He allegedly “forgot” Ranchi after that and consequently failed to save his security deposit in the 1991 election when he secured less than 20,000 votes.

Choudhary’s performance has improved steadily from 1991 in terms of voteshare. Though Congress candidates were his main rivals in the past three parliamentary elections, division of Opposition votes ensured his victory by comfortable margins.

But, as the main Opposition parties have joined hands this time, the battle of ballots has taken an interesting twist in Ranchi. While Independent candidate Bandhu Tirkey, who has been championing the cause of Adivasis and moolvasis after the the formation of a separate Jharkhand, might succeed in getting votes from the tribals, original natives and Sadans, who are not overtly satisfied with the BJP. CPM and CPI-ML (Liberation) candidates too might make inroads into the “secular” votebank as well, thereby aiding the BJP indirectly.

“It is true that by jumping into the fray, Bandhu Tirkey has succeeded in his ‘mission’. But, the tribals are at daggers drawn with the Mahtos, who have now started demanding Scheduled Tribe status. If the BJP grants the status to the Mahto community, the indigenous people will again be deprived of bread and butter. To prevent this, they are never going to vote for the BJP candidate,” argued Congress leader Vinay Pande.

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee visited Ranchi before the Election Commission had announced the poll schedule. Advani’s Bharat Uday yatra was also not a major hit with the people here. However, campaigning by Hema Malini, Dharmendra, Jeetendra and Mukesh Khanna compelled Sahay to rope in comedian Asrani and glamour queen Zeenat Aman. Despite the claims of Congress leaders, Choudhary’s chances are anything but bleak this time.On the other hand, Sahay and his supporters would love to see the response to Sonia Gandhi’s rally get translated into a large number of votes for the Congress.

“Most people like Choudhary as an individual because he is easily accessible. He has used his MP funds efficiently and unlike many other BJP leaders, he does not discriminate between different communities while doing his job. Though quite a few Muslims like him, Sahay will end up getting most of their votes. He also enjoys the support of other secular forces,” said Ranchi University psychology teacher Shahid Hassan.