Ranchi, Aug. 1: The political focus now shifts to Ranchi from Jamshedpur as the Supreme Court is set to hear a petition challenging Jharkhand High Court’s order to recount votes polled in the 2009 Assembly constituency, now being eyed by a JVM buoyed by its recent success in the Jamshedpur Lok Sabha seat.
Bhim Munda, who had contested the Hatia Assembly elections as an Independent, has challenged the high court order on the ground that the Election Commission was not made a party to the case by BJP nominee Ramji Lal Sarda, who challenged the election of late Congress MLA Gopal Sharan Nath Shahdeo.
Shahdeo, he claimed, had been declared a winner by adopting corrupt practices and by influencing the returning officer and other counting staff, including those of some booths. Shahdeo died of heart attack on June 28, 2010.
“The high court has also erred in giving findings on merit of the dispute without appreciating that the total valid votes retrieved by EVMs were 1,50,164 and thus, there was no requirement for re-counting of total votes because the recounting will again show the same number of votes counted/retrieved by it,” Munda, who filed the petition on July 27, has stated.
Late Shahdeo was elected by 25 votes after counting on December 23, 2009.
The high court, in its order, observed that prima facie, the BJP’s Sarda was denied his legal right when his request for recounting of total votes polled on the day of counting was not accepted.
The court also found discrepancies in totalling or counting of votes polled. It directed recounting of the total votes polled in all the booths in Hatia Assembly constituency on July 14.
State chief electoral officer P. K. Jajoria has already fixed August 29 as the date of recounting in pursuance of the high court directive.
Significantly, parties, particularly the Babulal Marandi-led JVM, are keenly watching the Supreme Court hearing on the petition. For, the JVM, fresh from its sweeping victory in Jamshedpur, believes fresh elections in Hatia will help it continue its winning streak.
Marandi has been grooming Ranchi Municipal Corporation deputy mayor Ajay Nath Shahdeo to contest the Hatia by-election.
But for the BJP, a victory for Sarda after a recount will give some solace to beleaguered partymen who did not expect to be humiliated so in the chief minister’s home turf.
If Sarda is declared winner after recounting, it will be a godsend for the leader of the ruling alliance government. The BJP does not want to risk another election given the fragile nature of its alliance with the JMM and Ajsu.
State BJP president Dineshanand Goswami tried to put up a brave front, saying his party was ready to face the by-election if required. “However, we are confident that the recounting will undo injustice meted out to our candidate Ramji Sarda,” he maintained.
It is only if the recount led to Shahdeo being declared a winner again that the seat will fall vacant, paving way for another by-election.
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