Boycott Is A Red Herring

Barely a month ago, when the poll fever was yet to grip the central Bihar killing fields, a select group of mediamen were whisked out to a remote corner of dreaded Jehanabad for a meeting with the state chief of cpi-ml (People’s War). The aim: to publicise their traditional aversion to the poll process. A week later, the mcc followed suit. Thus, both Naxal outfits seemed to champion the logic that polls were a "farcical fraud of democratic exercise" and political parties "fountainheads of exploitation".

However, history betrays the political opportunism of the ultras and pokes holes in the traditional Naxal theory that electoral politics is a bogus occupation. Jehanabad residents, hardened by experience, feel that come D-day, these outfits will not be found wanting in flexing their muscles to secure victory for their favourites. "In their pocketboroughs, the Naxal groups and the Ranvir Sena will spare no efforts to capture booths and influence voters in favour of parties of their choice," says Kunaljee, Jehanabad district secretary of the cpi-ml (Liberation), the overground faction that is contesting polls.

Whether or not the Naxals are out to make or mar the polls, the run-up to it has been as tense and bloody as ever. Recently, the Liberation nominee from Jehanabad, Ramadhar Singh, was injured in an alleged Ranvir Sena attack on his poll meeting at Chouram, an upper-caste stronghold. The Naxal outfits aren’t sitting quiet either. A state intelligence report states that groups active in Jehanabad, Gaya and Palamu are holding training camps for their squads to prevent voters from reaching polling booths and are looting arms to secure that goal.

But the boycott call hasn’t affected campaigning in Jehanabad, where violence is an inescapable adjunct to the political process. The constituency goes to polls on September 18. The three main aspirants represent the three dominant castes. The sitting MP and rjd candidate, Surendra Prasad Yadav, represents the Yadav community that accounts for 19 per cent of the electorate. Pitted against him is the JD (United) candidate Arun Kumar, a Bhumihar whose community makes up about 18 per cent. Then there’s Ramadhar of the cpi-ml (Liberation) who claims to represent the largest segment of the caste configuration—the backwards, accounting for about half the voters.

Surendra Yadav, who belongs to neighbouring Gaya, exudes confidence as he speaks to Outlook en route to a meeting at Kurtha, 25 km from Jehanabad. "Is baar bhi main hi jeetunga, log mere kaam se khush hain (I’ll win again; people appreciate my work)," the MP says. But he’s rendered speechless when asked to list his achievements. At the venue, where rjd chief Laloo Prasad Yadav is expected, the atmosphere is festive. Surendra Yadav sinks into his seat on the dais and the loudspeakers belt out the parody of the latest Mithun Chakraborty chartbuster: "Jaihen Samata Jehanabad se, lalten pe muhar maar ke, jaa jhar ke (Samata is finished in Jehanabad; the lantern has snuffed out its challenge)." The visibly pleased rjd aspirant asks: "Do you see any impact of the boycott call here?" Well, on that count he couldn’t go wrong.

But the three contenders have no escape from the spectre of the extremist elements, be it the Ranvir Sena or the Naxals. Surendra Yadav’s rivals have accused the MP of being hand-in-glove with the Naxals. He’s quick to rebut the charge: "I’m on good terms with both Naxal outfits, but I don’t seek their assistance." Yadav attributes these charges to the propaganda of the jd(u) nominee Arun Kumar, who, he claims, thrives on Ranvir Sena patronage. To substantiate his charge, the MP has distributed a leaflet which claims that two jailed Ranvir Sena men have urged voters to elect Kumar.

Kumar has dubbed the Yadav’s charges as baseless. "They call me a Ranvir Sena supporter just because I’m a Bhumihar. If I belong to the Ranvir Sena, why don’t they arrest me? It’ll mean a walkover for them," he retorts. Kumar says the sitting MP is facing the wrath of his own community for his inaction. He attributes the charges against him to the desperate situation which the sitting MP finds himself in, thanks to rjd misrule and the weaning away of its traditional Muslim-Yadav votebank. Kumar, being an upper-caste nominee, has reason to treat the boycott call seriously and is peeved at not being provided with adequate security: "My campaign is low-key as opposed to the fanfare that marks the rjd poll meetings," he says.

The boycott call hasn’t shaken Ramadhar Singh, the local favourite. He feels there’s no reason to halt his campaigns in Naxal-dominated areas. "By boycott they mean booth bahiskar (capture), which is implemented only in select areas. Going by the past, it’s vague what they mean," Kunaljee told Outlook. Obviously, he was referring to the ’98 Lok Sabha and the ’95 assembly polls when despite boycott calls the Naxals backed ruling party candidates. The meeting between mcc area commander Vijay Kumar Arya and Laloo Yadav during the ’95 polls snowballed into a controversy.

But the threat from the ultra Leftists have kept the administration and the electorate on tenterhooks in districts like Jehanabad, Gaya, Palamu, Chatra, Gumla and certain other parts of south Bihar. A section of the Jehanabad electorate may be tempted to read opportunism into the Naxals’ poll boycott call, but the ground reality in the interiors of Chatra, Palamu and Gaya indicates that polls here may well be a closed-door affair. The mcc’s call is more pronounced than ever: "Vote bahiskar ka bolo nara, ho kar rahega rajya hamara (boycott polls; then our writ will be supreme)". Though the urban and semi-urban areas are dotted with the rjd and the bjp poll symbols, the sprawling rural belt betrays no sign of the ongoing elections. An mcc sympathiser, while pronouncing Mao’s philosophy that power flows from the barrel of a gun, is convinced that fear will keep voters away from the booth: "Ek vote ke liye log apni jaan nahin denge (None will risk his life for a vote)."

In south Bihar, the government machinery is stretched to meet the threat from the Naxals. Intelligence reports indicate that the mcc will strike hard. Naxal phobia has kept aspirants away from the remote areas of Koderma, Giridih, Gumla and Lohardagga.

In Jehanabad, most voters don’t share the optimism of the political parties which feel the Leftist threat is exaggerated. The assurances from the district magistrate, Arunish Chawla, to leave no stone unturned for holding peaceful polls have done little to assuage public fear. Says Subhas of Rananagar in Kurtha: "I’ll remain at home on polling day."

Rajbansi Mahto, another local, echoes the sentiment: "Vote dene jaane par People’s War ke log maar denge (The People’s War men will kill us if we venture out to cast our vote)."

Given the public posturing of the People’s War leaders, such fears aren’t unwarranted. The People’s War secretary, Sharavan, is ready to battle the paramilitary forces. "It’s our constitutional right to vote or to abstain from it. If they force us to vote, we would give them a befitting reply," he told Outlook.

The residents of the Naxal-dominated pockets of central and south Bihar are well aware of the grim reality that additional police pickets will be a one-day arrangement in the remote corners where the administration’s writ runs only on paper. Need we then be surprised if the voter in the Naxal pocketboroughs places his life above his constitutional prerogative?