Nirsa/Sindri/Dhanbad (Jharkhand): Nirsa and Sindri in Jharkhand’s Dhanbad district have emerged as the testing ground for Left consolidation, as former Lok Sabha MP A.K. Roy’s Marxist Coordination Committee (MCC) and the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation [CPI (ML)] have joined hands to contest the 2024 assembly elections, where both parties have held considerable influence.
The two parties formally merged at an “Ekta Rally” in Dhanbad in September, with an aim at bolstering Left forces against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Two former MCC leaders – two-time Nirsa MLA Arup Chatterjee and former Sindri MLA Anand Mahato’s son, Chandradeo “Bablu” Mahato – have been fielded as the merger’s candidates in Nirsa and Sindri, respectively. While the CPI (ML) is a part of the INDIA bloc, in the Dhanwar seat where the party is contesting, its alliance partner Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) has also fielded a candidate. But it is in Sindri and Nirsa, where the merger will face its test in taking on the might of the BJP, which holds both seats at present.
Chandradeo Mahato. Photo: Sravasti Dasgupta
“MCC and CPI (ML) were both formed at around the same time and were fighting on the same ideological grounds in different areas. In the current situation, to take our fight forward, to realise the objective of the formation of the state of Jharkhand, the issues in rural areas, and how tribal areas are being given to Modi’s friends, there was a need for a people’s movement and Left unity. This was not being possible on a small scale and that is why we decided to come together,” said Chandradeo Mahato to The Wire.
Despite the merger, the electoral contest in Sindri is an uphill task for Mahato as he looks to regain the constituency where his father had been elected four times when the state was a part of Bihar but came second in all assembly elections since the formation of Jharkhand.
“In recent elections, anti-BJP votes would get scattered and in order to address this, INDIA alliance is united and fighting together. After the merger, all workers are working together and all other INDIA bloc partners are also working hard to bring down the BJP’s stronghold here,” said Chandradeo Mahato.
Since the formation of Jharkhand, the BJP has consolidated its presence in Sindri. The senior Mahato lost thrice to the BJP and once to the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) party, which has since merged with the saffron party. In 2019, Anand Mahato lost to BJP’s Indrajit Mahato by only 8,253 votes. With the sitting MLA, who has been hospitalised for over three years, out of the election fray, the BJP is looking to retain its hold in Sindri with Tara Devi taking on the mantle from her ailing husband.
Tara Devi. Photo: Sravasti Dasgupta
“After he was hospitalised during the COVID pandemic, I immediately got three families. One is my own family, the second is my Hyderabad family (where Mahato is hospitalised) and the third is Sindri. I have been working for these three families. The BJP has placed its trust in me and the workers and the people are supporting me,” Devi told The Wire on the sidelines of a meeting with women in the constituency.
“Sindri’s people are now aware. They will not go for those who change parties. Secondly, the one who uprooted the red flag here was the BJP. It is an election, so everyone will contest. In the previous election, two former MLAs were contesting. But this time we are all new candidates and from the same community (Mahato). Anyone can contest elections, so it does not matter,” added Devi.
While Sindri has remained mostly with the BJP in the last two decades, Nirsa presents an open opportunity for the CPI (ML). Chatterjee, who had been MLA from the constituency in 2009 and 2014, faces his long-time rival Aparna Sengupta who defeated him in 2005 when she was part of the All India Forward Bloc and in 2019 as a BJP candidate.
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“Aparna Sengupta joined the BJP and won in 2019. Now perhaps Arup Chatterjee is hoping that merging his MCC with the CPI (ML) will make him win again,” said Chittu De, a labourer in Nirsa.
The Left combine is looking to make gains with the MCC and the CPI (ML)’s combined strength in rural areas, where Chatterjee is seen as a grassroots leader who is readily available to the people, especially in the rural areas.
“Aparna Sengupta has also worked hard in the area. But the difference between her and Arup Chatterjee is that he is always available. Whenever you need him, he is ready to help. It doesn’t matter if he has changed or merged his party, we know him as our leader,” said Satyavani Devi, who runs a roadside eatery in Nirsa.
CPI (ML) supporter in Nirsa. Photo: Sravasti Dasgupta
Like in other parts of the state, the Left combine’s true test however will be in urban areas where the BJP continues to have a stronghold. In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the INDIA bloc faced defeat in Dhanbad when the BJP secured a fourth straight win as Dulo Mahto defeated the Congress’s Anupama Singh.
“The candidate is not important because we vote in the name of Modi,” said Manoj Mahato, who works as a driver around Nirsa and Sindri.
“Arup Chatterjee is a good candidate for instance, but we are with BJP because of Modi. We have all been Congress voters in the past. But not anymore. The Congress is not contesting here but they are in alliance with CPI (ML),” said Pramod Kumar Tiwary, a doctor in Nirsa.
Manoj Mishra, an independent journalist based in Sindri, said that the MCC-CPI (ML) merger is likely to have a positive impact for the INDIA bloc, even as spoils remain for the Jharkhand Loktantrik Krantikari Morcha party which has fielded Ashok Kumar Mondal in Nirsa and Usha Devi in Sindri.
“The merger has had a good impact. The JMM has placed a huge bet on the Left by giving them these two seats of Nirsa and Sindri. In Sindri, the BJP is driving its campaign on a sympathy wave while in Nirsa, the area has been mostly with trade unionists. What’s working in Arup Chatterjee’s favour also is that people won’t have to travel far to meet him as he is a local. If BJP wins Sindri town and Nirsa Bazaar, it will be difficult for the alliance,” he said.
