The Ranchi Assembly seat, considered one of the ‘safest’ seats for the BJP in Jharkhand, is witnessing its closest contest since the state’s creation.

Electorates are unanimous on the lack of civic facilities suitable for a capital city. They attribute the issue to a lack of political will and the vision of the party in power since the state was carved out of Bihar in 2000.

Retired army officer and a resident of Ranchi’s Main Road, Sanjay Nath Sahdeo, wants a representative with a vision to take the city to a level so that “it can at least match” categories of a capital city.

Waste piled up along the roadside in Ranchi.

“Forget about smart cities, I would like to have a new representative who would have a vision to provide facilities that can match the tag of being the capital. At present the civic facilities are a mess. Even a little rainfall leads to waterlogging because of poor drainage management. Waste management is horrible, traffic snarls are frequent and most of the lanes have developed potholes. Unfortunately, we have among the longest-serving MLAs in the state,” said Sahdeo.

“I would like a change of guard this time and hope to have a representative who can upgrade the facilities and, if the need arises, fight for it with the authorities and the government mandarins,” the 59-year-old added.

Ranchi’s sitting MLA, C.P. Singh, has been representing the seat on the BJP ticket since undivided Bihar (from 1996) and is aspiring for a seventh term this time. He is facing a straight contest with the JMM’s Rajya Sabha MP Mahua Maji, who lost in 2019 by a margin of only 5,904 votes.

BJP MLA CP Singh inaugurates a party office in Ranchi on Thursday.

Gurpal Singh, a resident of Pee Pee compound near Sujata Chowk, is also not happy with the civic facilities in the city.

“Ranchi is a plateau but surprisingly we still have waterlogging problems even after a moderate shower. Spilling of drainage water is a common sight on almost all major roads. We need a leader who can at least use the MLA funds to upgrade facilities rather than indulging in ‘vote ki rajneeti’,” said the 52-year-old hotelier.

He wants a leader with a new vision for the development of the city.

Secretary-general of the Federation of Jharkhand Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FJCCI) and a distributor of industrial goods, Aditya Malhotra, also acknowledges the civic issues faced by residents.

“Waterlogging even during the non-rainy season is common. There is a lack of traffic planning leading to jams. We desperately need good educational and super-speciality health centres apart from good law and more number of parks and museums for a capital city,” said Malhotra, a resident of Burdwan Compound in Lalpur Chowk.

He refused to comment on the sitting MLA but praised the current Hemant Soren government for helping in starting flyovers at Kantatoli and construction work at full pace for other flyovers at Ratu and Siramtoli and the functioning of waste to energy waste recycling plant at Jhiri which would solve to a great extent solid waste management system in the city.

Auto driver Dinbandhu Mahato was clear on his choice. “Is baar parivartan sure hai. Purane MLA haar rahe hai (This time change is sure in Ranchi. The old MLA is losing),” said Mahato.

The Ranchi seat has 24 per cent Muslim voters, 14 per cent tribal (including Christian) voters and 4 per cent SC voters.

“I am confident of my victory. A lot of work was planned to be done but some couldn’t happen because of the conspiracy of the current government,” said MLA Singh who promises to make Ranchi a metro city if elected again.

“My party has reposed faith in me and am contesting the election again. I still have four years left in my Rajya Sabha tenure. But I have taken the challenge to make the JMM win this seat,” Maji said.

• Ranchi votes on November 13