The election in Panki, one of the five Assembly constituencies of Palamau to vote on November 30, resembles the popular ad of a body warmer. Something that warms up even winter.
Poll fever is raging in Panki that hit the headlines when its BJP candidate Shashibhushan Mehta joined the saffron party in October amid high drama.
Mehta, accused of murdering schoolteacher Suchitra Mehta, faced protests from her sons Abhishek and Ashutosh the day he joined the BJP in Ranchi. Both the youths said as BJP supporters they were aghast at how a “murderer could join” the party.
Mehta’s main rival is Congress candidate and sitting MLA Devender Singh alias Bittu Singh, who won the bypoll when his MLA father Videsh Singh died two-and-a-half years ago.
An official with the district administration said the election mood in Panki was the “most fierce” compared to the other four seats in Palamau.
Who will win Panki? “Even poll pundits are foxed. Here, the poll scene changes every hour,” said a voter, Mukul Kumar, of Panki’s Lesliganj block. “We’ve seen everything, communal tension, Naxalism of all hues from Peoples’ War Group to Maoist Communist Centre of India, to the present-day CPI(Maoist), the PLFI, the JJMP, the TSPC…Let’s see what this poll changes.”
Both the Congress sitting MLA and the BJP challenger — the JMM defector who got the ticket even at the cost of denting the party’s image — are confident of victory.
Mithilesh Singh, a close aide of Bittu Singh, claimed they would retain the seat. “People are with us.”
Mehta, on his part, said: “People here want a change. I’ll get people’s blessings.”
Police are on their toes to prevent streetfights among rival camps. “Any aberration will be dealt with sternly,” SP Palamau Ajay Linda said. “Our eyes are everywhere.”
A police source said Panki has two booths — names withheld for security reasons — with no cellular connectivity. Here, satellite phones will be used. Also, polling booths at Abun and Janjoo in Panki are “risky” because of their nearness to Latehar’s Maoist belt Herhunj.
Because of these seasons, Panki has the highest number of “heli-droppings” (chopper landings)/ taking off). “It had the most heli-droppings during Lok Sabha polls under Chatra seat. There will be nine during the Vidhan Sabha polls,” a security official said.
Panki returning officer Amit Prakash pointed out another poser, saying he was up to his ears with “fake complaints”. “Rival camps call us up to say this or that contestant is using campaign vehicles without permission. These are mostly untrue. I request all to abstain from fake complaints,” said the overworked official.
Panki has 2,66,406 voters, including 1,25,422, and 326 polling booths.
l Panki votes on November 30.
