Gomia & Silli Bypoll Results: JMM MLAs Languish in Jail, Wives Win Seats in Assembly By-Elections

Winning an election is not easy, especially in India. It takes hard work, connection, luck and of course, a history of dominance and money power. While all the above factors may still not help you in winning an election, it most often does. The bypoll assembly election results in Jharkhand's Gomia and Silli prove one such point. The ‘tale of the two wives’ of jailed Jharkhand Mukti Morcha Party (JMM) MLAs is a testimony to the fact that in politics, getting convicted under law can actually help matters and prepare one for succession planning and legacy protection. It can also successfully launch the political career of a Neta's spouse or kin/relative, which would have been unthought of other wise. Remember Rabri Yadav's entry in politics? A similar script has been played out in the Gomia and Silli assembly seats in Jharkhand where wives of two jailed MLAs' have been elected as member of legislative assembly after their husband's arrest in two separate cases. That they belong to one party named JMM, is definitely not a coincidence.

Gomia is a town which is a subdivision of the Bokaro district in the state of Jharkhand. Silli on the other hand, is a small town 60 kilometers away from the capital Ranchi.

The 2014 assembly elections in the state had brought to power the BJP government with support of the six MLAs of JAV party under the chief ministership of Raghubir Das. The seats of Gomia and Silli were both won by JMM members.

In the 2014 Jharkhand Assembly Elections, Yogendra Prasad of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) party had managed to leave all the other candidates behind to emerge as the winner of the Gomia seat. But the Gomia constituency fell vacant after the JMM legislator was convicted by the court in a coal theft case. He was sentenced for more than two years in jail for unlawful activities pertaining to irregularities in his business for which he used coal illegally which belonged to state property.

Similarly, the Silli constituency was won by JMM legislator Amit Mahto. Two months after the Gormia seat fell vacant, the legislator from Silli was convicted by the court for beating an officer while was at duty. He was also sentenced for more than two years in jail and this way he too had to lose his membership from the Jharkhand Vidhan Sabha which made it mandatory to have polls.

Ordinarily, this should have been the end of the story for the one time legislators to ever think that they could be MLAs again. But then this is the land of jugaad and everything is believed to be fair in love, war and may be more so in politics.

How often it has been seen that those in power or celebrities who commit crime and end up getting punished for it, get sympathy from the people which helps them in more ways than one. The MLAs loss turned out to be their wife’s gain. In Gomia, jailed ex-MLA Yogendra Prasad’s wife Babita Devi today emerged victorious in the assembly by-polls after JMM decided to give her the ticket after her husband’s arrest necessitated the bypoll. Similarly in Silli, Seema Mahto won the byelection after she was offered a ticket after husband’s conviction in the case of physically assaulting an officer. If these incidents are anything to go by, it doesn’t seem to be a bad idea to get punished if you are a powerful politician in India. You have your substitute ready and probably a grand welcome once you are back.

The result of the 2018 assembly election is not the end but only the beginning of what could be an astounding tale of crime, punishment and redemption. If one looks closely, it can also serve as a classic example of revenge and opportunism. Revenge not on a person but on the idea of ethics in politics, if there exists any, anymore. As for opportunism, parties are known to create one even where none exist, so there is no surprise in knowing that they go for it with a vengeance whenever there is an opportunity. And this time, they explored the opportunity to great effect proving that in local politics, a recognised face is valued more than any other quality- and that electorate is willing to compromise on other more desirable qualities for familiarity. The democracy works in mysterious ways, indeed, where one man's criminal or his/her relative is another man's leader.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in the above article are of the author and do not reflect the stand or position of LatestLY.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 31, 2018 05:41 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).