Ravindra Pandey

Bokaro, May 16: Ravindra Pandey of the BJP scored where others faltered: the Mahto, minority and tribal vote banks.

Pitted against four Mahto and two Muslim candidates — besides 10 others — the poll veteran cut the crucial vote banks by huge margins to win the Giridih Lok Sabha seat for the fourth time in the past six elections.

His nearest rival Tek Lal Mahto of the JMM, who pipped Pandey by almost one-and-a-half lakh votes in 2004, could garner 138,697 votes — way behind what his BJP compatriot got: 2,33,435.

Out of 14 lakh voters in the constituency, at least 3 lakh are Mahtos followed by minorities and tribals. At least 60 per cent of the population live in Naxalite-hit areas. Though CPI, in the final hours, had given a ticket to former RJD minister Aklu Ram Mahto to win over lakhs of labourers and Lalu Prasad fielded Humayun Ansari but neither the candidates could affect the prospects of Pandey.

Later, Pandey said: “The voters realised their mistake and gave me a chance again. Moreover, the anti-incumbency factor also helped me as in the past five years, as Mahto never addressed any relevant local problem,” said Pandey.

Mahto said the absence of Shibu Soren in pre-poll campaigns cost him the most. “People did not show the enthusiasm to come out to vote,” Mahto said.