Meet India's Maoist MP behind bars

By Amarnath Tewary
Patna, Bihar

Mr Baitha was not able regularly to meet the electorate yet still still triumphed

"When he got the news that he had won the parliamentary poll he started jumping and pacing in and out of his prison cell flashing overbearing excitement on his face," Indian jailer Binod Singh said.

The first elected Maoist to the Indian parliament is Kameshwar Baitha, 56, who is currently being held at the Rohtas district jail in the eastern state of Bihar.

Mr Baitha is one of the the most dreaded Maoist commanders not only in Bihar, but also in the states of Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh.

He also has the distinction of probably being the only Maoist - and maybe the only candidate - to contest India's recently concluded general elections from inside a jail.

'Prize catch'

Mr Baitha won the election as a candidate for the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) party, which has a tribal leadership and was competing for a reserved parliamentary seat specially set aside for minorities.

Mr Baitha must work on behalf of his constituents from within jail

His achievement is all the more remarkable because he still has a 500,000 rupees ($10,506) reward on his head announced by the three state governments.

When Mr Baitha was arrested on the outskirts of Patna in a joint special task force operation by police from Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh in May 2005, the then police chief of Bihar, Ashish Ranjan Sinha, called him "the most wanted prize catch".

Altogether he faces 46 criminal cases ranging from murder and extortion to carrying out explosive acts.

He is accused of killing several policemen in a landmine blast triggered on the Bihar-Jharkhand border in 2002.

Police records show that Mr Baitha had been an active Maoist since 1984 - and his mastery of explosives and mines meant that he rose rapidly to the rank of zonal commander.

"There is no doubt that he is a dreaded Maoist leader, accused of a number of criminal acts," police chief Vikas Vaibhav told the BBC.

"As per our intelligence report he is still a hardcore Maoist leader."

Landmine blast

Jharkhand police say that Mr Baitha's name still spells terror in areas where the Maoists are active.

In India about 182 districts are affected by the Maoist insurgency - they are fighting for a communist state and improved rights for farmers and poorer rural people.

Maoism... came into existence because of the growing divide between rich and poor in the society Kameshwar Baitha

Ironically they do not believe in the democratic process and have been boycotting most polls.

In fact they even boycotted the five-phase parliamentary poll which began in Bihar on 16 April. On the day of the vote in the Palamu region of the state - from where Mr Baitha was contesting his seat - six policemen were killed in a landmine blast triggered by Maoists.

It has now been reported that the Maoists have officially expelled Kameshwar Baitha from their outfit and even issued a death penalty against him for contesting the polls.

But police officials are sceptical.

"He may have ceased to be a member of the Maoists by contesting the poll, but our intelligence reports suggest that he is very much in the outfit commanding their operation in the area," Bihar Inspector General of Police SK Bhardwaj told the BBC.

Anti-capitalist

However, Mr Baitha himself denies that he was or is a Maoist.

"I've been a mass leader fighting for the downtrodden and socially deprived people against the feudal forces of my area. I made people aware of their rights," he said soon after winning the poll.

But does he believe in Maoist philosophy?

"I believe in Marx's theories against capitalism and labour policies," he answered somewhat ambiguously.

Elections in Bihar were keenly contested

"Maoism is not a problem but a thought. It came into existence because of the growing divide between rich and poor in the society."

This is not the first time that Mr Baitha had contested in the polls. In 2007 he lost a parliamentary by-poll in the same constituency but representing a different party.

He is also not even the only Maoist leader who has contested in the polls.

Others such as Ranjan Yadav threw their hat into the ring and registered an impressive performance, although he lost the poll in the neighbouring constituency of Chatra.

If Mr Baitha is to be believed, other Maoists have been inspired by his electoral success and are ready to fight the forthcoming state assembly polls.

After his election triumph, Mr Baitha now attracts a stream of visitors to the prison and he stands at his cell window to oblige them.

His victory also means that he can attend future court hearings - and there are many of them in his case - without wearing handcuffs.

Source : BBC

Candidates trying to woo `Old Patna society'

PATNA: It is the "Old Patna society" that mainstream candidates and their parties have been trying to woo: traders, Muslims, Bengalis and Kayasthas,
who used to make the charm of Old Patna. For, the sea of migrants has drowned it. Sonelal Mandal, a migrant from Madhubani district runs a tea-stall on Beerchand Patel Path in Patna. He is the head of a 19-member family living here. He has cast his vote in five elections, including two parliamentary elections. He has seven voters in his family. "We will vote for BJP," Sonelal, who is exposed to spirited discussions about the Patna Sahib seat, said. Indeed, the Patna Sahib parliamentary constituency, which has a high density of urban voters spread over its four assembly segments (Patna Sahib, Kumhrar, Bankipore and Digha) and rural voters in two other segments Fatuha and Bakhtiarpur, has witnessed the return of a kind of pockets of "adda" culture -- yet another Old Patna charm. Those gathered at the "addas" in the evening discuss prospects of the five main candidates -- cine star Shatrughan Sinha, BJP, king of small screen Shekhar Suman, Congress, Vijay Kumar Sahu, RJD, Ram Narain Rai, CPI(ML) and Ravi Kumar, BSP, the stress being on the first three. They, in the process, recall vignettes from Sinha's film (most famous being the delivery "Khaamosh!"), and also conclude who among them would win, only to be countered by the other one in the group. Said Sanjay Kumar, who sells packets of blend tea in Kidwaipuri, "Every evening we meet. It is not right to say who will win. The candidates have visited our locality. I will not say where my vote will go." This silence of the voters has intrigued political parties, while RJD has ruffled the wings of BJP by fielding Vijay Kumar Sahu from the class of "vaishya (traders)", since the traders and business community have been the traditional mainstay of BJP. Said BJP's trader cell convener Suresh Rungta, "RJD has tried to cut into our traditional vote bank, but it will not succeed." RJD, however, is satisfied with its move. "For the first time, the people of trader community have a chance to send their representative to Parliament from Patna Sahib," said an RJD leader, adding: "It is paying us dividend, because they, so far, have only cast their votes to make other people MPs." Similarly, Congress has queered the pitch for both BJP and RJD. Its candidate Shekhar Suman has been spreading out his tentacles to pull to his side both the Kayastha and Muslim sections, apart from cultivating others at a furious pace. In a way, "Old Patna society" has come alive in the electoral power play.

Courtsey : The Times of India