Settling political scores with Maoist help
Two days before Jharkhand’s former minister Gopal Krishna Patar alias Raja Peter was arrested for allegedly paying Maoists to kill his rival, two armed persons struck at Lachragad village in Simdega district, in another corner of the state.
The unidentified assailants gunned down BJP leader Manoj Nagesia, who was a former Maoist commander, when he was having breakfast in the village. Nagesia had quit the red army, joined democratic politics, and entered the electoral fray after he was released from jail in 2014.
Nagesia had joined the BJP in 2014 and made an unsuccessful bid in the 2014 Assembly poll from Kolebira. The Maoists claimed responsibility for killing Nagesia, whose political clout was increasing in the area. This could be one reason for killing him.
The two incidents may not have a direct link. But they do signal the new strategy being designed by leftwing extremists (LWEs), giving a new dimension to the Maoist-politician nexus not only in Jharkhand but in the country.
Nagesia and Peter were political stalwarts in their home turf. The latter is popular as the self-styled Robin Hood of Tamar for his propeople initiatives. Peter, who engineered the fall of the Shibu Soren government in 2009, defeated the then chief minister and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) patriarch in a bypoll.
He was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday for allegedly masterminding the 2008 murder of the then JD(U) MLA from Tamar, Ramesh Munda. But what imparts a dimension to the development is the fact that a surrendered Maoist Kundan Pahan, a dreaded one at that, told the NIA of Peter’s involvement.
The Maoist leader, with a reward of ~15 lakh on his head and named in 128 police cases, had surrendered in May this year in Ranchi. He was charged with plotting several killings — of police officers and an MLA — besides looting ~5.5 crore from a bank vehicle. Pahan had confessed before the NIA to the murder of Ramesh Munda and said Peter had paid him ~4 crore to kill the MLA.
Interestingly, Pahan has become politically active in Tamar. Like Nagesia, the hardcore Maoist leader may enter electoral politics and contest the next Assembly election if he is not convicted by then and debarred from participating in elections.
The constituency is currently represented by Munda’s son Vikas of the All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU). Unlike his father, who had been a popular figure in the constituency, Vikas is losing ground and could find it hard to win the next election. In the circumstances, Pahan is likely to emerge as a strong political option in the Tamar Assembly constituency, given that the “Robin Hood” is behind bars.
Peter has himself underlined it. “I was framed as part of a larger political game hatched to finish my political career. I am an easy target. Time will prove my innocence,” he said while being produced in a Ranchi court. Attracted by the persona of Narendra Modi, who, he says, “is a mahapurush (great man) who will change the country”, Peter joined the BJP and later quit when denied a nomination by the saffron party.
The political ambition of Maoists is a disastrous twist in Jharkhand politics. The rebels have started targeting big guns as part of their strategy, probably egged on by opponents.
“This is the new strategy Maoists in Jharkhand are using— killing leaders having a mass appeal instead of inflicting big casualties,” a senior official in the state says. Nothing unleashes more terror than killing a political stalwart.
According to the official, the politician-Maoist nexus had been confined to the lower ranks. Political leaders have been charged with harbouring Maoists.
A woman member of the Assembly in Warangal district reportedly joined her husband to pay “homage” to Polam Sudarshan Reddy alias Rama Krishna, a dreaded Maoist who was killed in an encounter with the police on March 25, 2003. Rama Krishna was an accused in 1,042 criminal offences. The MLA’s husband had close links with Rama Krishna. He had allegedly sought his help to kill his political rivals including a minister.
Peter’s case in Jharkhand is, however, the first proven case of a Maoist politician nexus in the country.