‘None of the senior leaders of Dhanbad are genuinely working for Azad’.
Ranchi: Kirti Azad, who is fighting from the coal belt seat of Dhanbad, whose gang-war culture over illegal coal mining was immortalised in the movie Gangs of Wasseypur, is facing massive resentment from local Congress workers and party leaders over his credentials of being an “outsider”.
Azad, who is pitted against the sitting Bharatiya Janata Party MP Pashupati Nath Singh, who had also won in 2009, has been unable to assuage the anger of local workers loyal to former Congress MP Chandrashekhar Dubey, who had won the election in 2004 before being defeated in 2009.
Dubey, after being denied a ticket in 2014 by the Congress, had contested on a ticket of the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) and came in the fifth position. He later re-joined the Congress and, according to sources close to him, was personally asked by Congress leader Sonia Gandhi to start preparing for the elections before being snubbed at the last moment and the party giving ticket to Azad.
A Dhanbad-based Congress loyalist close to Dubey said: “Dubey has a very strong hold over the coal workers and trade unions and is the only Congress leader in the region who has mass appeal. When he rejoined the Congress, he was personally asked to prepare for elections by Sonia Gandhi which he was doing for the last one-and-a-half-years. Azad knows no one in Dhanbad. He is an outsider who did little for his former constituency Darbhanga. The blame lies with Ajoy Kumar (state Congress president) and R.P.N. Singh (party in-charge)—they are asking us to work for an individual who till days ago was in the BJP before being thrown out. None of the senior leaders of the constituency are genuinely working for Azad.”
Asked why Dubey, if he was still popular, came in the fifth position in 2014, he said that Dubey had come under pressure from his supporters to contest the election, but once he got the ticket from AITC, he decided to “sit” and also prohibited his supporters from campaigning.
Azad, on his part, had made it a point to take the blessings of senior Congress leaders, including Dubey, before starting his campaign.
An INTUC member said: “He met Baba (Chandrashekhar Dubey) and sought his help in the election. Baba did not say no to him, but we know that he has ‘surrendered’. Azad is regularly being shown black flags by party workers. This seat has been with the BJP since 1991 and it was only because of Dubey that Congress won in 2004. Ajoy Kumar has expelled many party workers who are seen as not working for Azad and many have resigned on their own after Azad was given the ticket. Earlier this week when Navjot Singh Sidhu came to campaign for Azad in Bokaro, there were less than 300 people to hear him.” Dhanbad has six Assembly seats.
Kanhaiya Pandey, who was expelled from the party recently from the post of district president, RTI cell, Bokaro, said that ground workers are not campaigning for Azad. “They expelled me because I was a part of the group that was opposing giving ticket to Azad, an outsider. P.N. Singh has done nothing for Dhanbad in the last 10 years and he would have definitely lost if a local was given ticket. We had so many deserving candidates like Manan Malik, Chandrashekhar Dubey, Rajendra Singh, Ajay Kumar Dubey, Mayur Shekhar Jha, all of whom were locals. Even the two lakh strong Muslim voters are not supporting Azad because of the allweged involvement of Azad’s father, Bhagwat Jha, in the Bhagalpur riots,” he said.
Similarly, Zahid Hussain, who was till recently the district vice president of NSUI, Bokaro, before being expelled for opposing Jha’s candidature, said that Azad was facing massive opposition from the Congress workers. “He is not suited for Dhanbad. When party workers suggested that he do house-to-house campaign, he rebuked them saying that he was not fighting a councillor election. Also, when he saw only 30 workers had gathered at a square in Dhanbad to welcome him, he did not come out of the car as the number was ‘too small’. He was not allowed to enter Wasseypur as barricades were erected to stop him. In Azad Nagar, Siwandih area of Bokaro, which is Muslim dominated, people are openly saying that even if Dadai Dubey tells us, we will not vote for Azad. Ajay Kumar has virtually gifted this seat to the BJP,” he said.
According to Rishikesh Mishra, a Congress loyalist, who was expelled for “anti-party” activities, Ajoy Kumar’s insecurity was the reason behind denying tickets to senior Congress leaders in the state. “Dubey, Furqan Ansari (Former MP from Godda), Rameshwar Oraon (former MP from Lohardaga) and Pradeep Kumar Balmuchu (former Rajya Sabha member and former state Congress president) all are stalwarts and were sidelined by Ajoy Kumar, the consequence of which will become visible on 23 May. Kumar believes that unless and until seniors are sidelined, he will not be able to ‘grow’. Unlike Ajoy Kumar, Dubey has mass appeal and he is a people’s leader,” he said.
However, Jeetendra Yadav, Congress spokesperson, Bokaro, said that Azad was going to win from Dhanbad with a record margin. “We are fighting a collective battle as part of the grand alliance and hence Azad will win with a record margin of votes. Some level of anger is natural from people who expect tickets, but don’t get it. Chandrashekhar Dubey is also supporting Azad. There is no question of an outsider being given ticket, we as a loyal Congress worker go by what the party high command decides,” he said.
Similarly, Jitender Kumar, who is the district secretary of the Congress, Bokaro, feels that Azad is the best candidate that the party could field from Dhanbad. “He is not an outsider, he was born in Godda. Obviously, there will be some disappointment and unhappiness among party leaders who wanted the ticket, but did not get it. All these issues have been settled now. As for him being a parachute candidate, it is a hollow argument. If Narendra Modi can contest from Varanasi then what is wrong in Azad contesting from Dhanbad?” he asked.