Voters in Jharkhand’s Tamar Assembly constituency have some unusual candidates, including a former CPI (Maoist) zonal commander, to choose from in Saturday’s poll.
The Tamar seat in Ranchi district is spread across a forested, tribal-dominated region. It goes to the polls in the second phase of the five-phase Assembly election for 20 seats.
Among the 17 candidates in the fray in Tamar is Kundan Pahan, former Maoist.
Mr. Pahan is accused of involvement in more than 100 offences, and had surrendered before Jharkhand police in 2017. He is contesting the election as an Independent from jail.
Carrying a bounty of ₹15 lakh at one time, he was charged with murdering Ramesh Singh Munda, Tamar’s former MLA. Now, Mr. Pahan faces Ramesh Singh Munda’s son, Vikash, the incumbent who is contesting on the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha ticket.
The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) candidate and former MLA, Gopal Krishan Patar, widely known as Raja Peter, also has a direct link to the high-profile murder. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had arrested him on charges of masterminding the crime. Mr. Patar is also in jail. He defeated JMM founder Shibu Soren in the January 2009 by-election for the seat after the murder.
In his affidavit to the Election Commission of India, Mr. Pahan’s criminal records run into 44 pages. Last month, the special NIA judge permitted him to file his nomination, and he was taken in a police van to Bundu to file his papers.
He is also accused of involvement in the murders of special branch officer Francis Induwar in 2009 and Bundu Deputy Superintendent of Police Pramod Kumar Gupta. For both Mr. Pahan and Mr. Patar, it is their wives who campaigned for votes.
Other prominent candidates are Reeta Devi (BJP), Ram Durlav Singh Munda (AJSU) and Sunil Kumar Munda of the JD(U).
