With no backing from JMM, Cong puts up united face

Ranchi: With no assurance of support from the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) the biggest tribal party in the state the embattled Congress is trying to put up a united front before the Lohardaga byelection on December 14.
Though the party is believed to be divided into several camps, it is projecting that all factions are united. With barely a week to go before the polls, Congress has kick-started a poster war in Lohardaga to drive home the point.Interestingly, it's state president Sukhdeo Bhagat shares space with his 'bete-noires' Congress Rajya Sabha MP Dhiraj Prasad Sahu and former Union minister Rameshwar Oraon in the posters.
In the party circles, Sahu and Oraon are known to be the bitter rivals of Bhagat. Even though they 'do not share a good rapport with the state Congress president', Sahu and Oraon are among the powerful leaders of Congress in Jharkhand, said sources. They have their own base of supporters within the party who follow their directions, they added.
The Lohardaga assembly segment goes to polls on December 14 with the state Congress president Sukhdeo Bhagat as the party candidate. In the 2014 assembly election, the two 'opposed Bhagat during the election campaigns'. This, many believe, led to Bhagat's defeat. After the polls, Bhagat complained about the two working against him to the party bosses.
Following last year's bitter defeat, Bhagat seems to have realized the power of his 'opponents' ahead of the bypoll and has tried to amend his relationship with them. This was evident when the two became his nominators when Bhagat filed his nominations for the polls.
"Both of them are like my elder brothers. I have learnt a lot from them and I am fighting the elections with their blessings," Bhagat said. In an attempt to please Sahu, the posters also carry the photograph of his (Sahu) elder brother late Shiv Prasad Sahu, who was the former MP of Ranchi. Congress spokesperson Lal Kishore Nath Shahdeo said it has been the party's tradition to give space to all senior leaders in posters. "All the big and small posters, banners and leaflets being distributed have the photographs of them all," Shahdeo said.
In the 2014 assembly election, however, the posters put up for seeking votes for Bhagat, did not have the photographs of either of the two leaders. The JMM has not yet announced whether it will support the Congress in the elections. It has, however, not fielded its candidate for the bypoll.