ROURKELA: Seeking a comeback in the tribal-dominated Sundargarh district, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) finalised the candidature of its former legislator Nihar Surin from the bordering Assembly constituency of Birmitrapur on Sunday.
Nihar had recently quit the BJD and returned to his parent party. The JMM would contest the polls in Birmitrapur with the support of the Congress.
After rejoining the JMM on April 22, Nihar visited Ranchi in Jharkhand where JMM patriarch and Rajya Sabha Member Shibu Soren approved his candidature. Reserved for Scheduled Tribe (ST), Birmitrapur shares major border with Jharkhand’s Simdega and West Singhbhum districts. The constituency has strong cultural affinity with Jharkhand and a sizable committed voters of JMM.
Nihar said he is happy to return to the JMM and looks forward to regroup the party cadres. The Congress workers would support JMM and in return, JMM would work in Birmitrapur for Congress’ Sundargarh Lok Sabha candidate Janardan Dehury.
Nihar was the vice-president of BJD’s Rourkela organisational district. He quit BJD on April 8 opposing the entry of parachute candidate Rohit Joseph Tirkey, son of four-time MLA George Tirkey.
Political observers said the JMM-Congress combine has made the electoral equation in Birmitrapur more complex as the BJD is up against serious infighting.
Leading the campaign for his son Rohit, George claimed the BJD would win with above one lakh vote. BJD’s local president Halu Mundari too predicted the ruling party’s victory. The differences within the party have been sorted out, he added.
In 2019 election, sitting BJP MLA of Birmitrapur Shankar Oram had polled 60,937 and defeated BJD’s Maklu Ekka (44,586 votes). Rohit as Congress candidate finished third with 44,212 votes. JMM candidate Sebian Aind had bagged 14,374 votes. In 2014 polls, Aind had secured 27,849 votes.
Political observers said despite the 2019 debacle, the JMM cannot simply be written off. Nihar has the potential to consolidate JMM votes, while Congress is still left with around 13,000 votes. On JMM nomination, George had won from Birmitrapur in 1995 and 2000. Nihar too had won the seat for JMM in 2004, but lost in 2009.
Birmitrapur has around 2.43 lakh registered voters. Those in the know of facts said considering the 75 per cent voter turnout in 2019 election, it is expected that there would be polling of around 1.82 lakh votes this time. If it happens, there would be a close fight between BJP and BJD, while the JMM-Congress combine would play a decisive role.