Saryu Roy — Hero of 2019 – Faces Stiff Contest in Jharkhand Polls
JD (U) Candidate Saryu Roy with Union Minister for Home Affairs Amit Shah Image credit X.com @AmitShah
Jamshedpur West Assembly Seat Witnesses Four-cornered Contest
By Amit Kumar
Jamshedpur, November 12: Former Jharkhand Minister Saryu Roy is facing stiff contest in the Jamshedpur West Assembly seat. Polling will take place on Wednesday in the high-profile constituency.
Roy held a late-night dharna outside a police station over the weekend after a BJP worker was detained. After the dharna, Roy was able to free the detained workers of the BJP.
Roy has sent out a big message among the BJP workers that he has all the space for them. This is also important because the BJP worker who had been detained hailed from the Vaishya caste.
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Roy is facing challenge mainly from Banna Gupta, the Congress candidate, from the Jamshedpur West Assembly seat. Babar Khan of the AIMIM is also in the fray. A BJP rebel, Vikash Singh, is also contesting from the constituency.
In the 2019 Assembly elections in Jharkhand, Roy had turned rebel. He fought against then chief minister of Jharkhand Raghubar Das from the Jamshedpur East Assembly seat. He emerged a giant killer, as he defeated Das and ended his political career.
Roy has now returned to his traditional seat. He is contesting on the ticket of the Janata Dal (United). His symbol in the elections is handpump.
Union Minister for Home Affairs Amit Shah held a joint road show for both the Jamshedpur seats recently. But Roy is facing a stiff contest because of the challenge of Gupta from the Congress.
If Babar Khan succeeds in splitting the Muslim vote base, Roy’s task may become easier. The Muslim voters are in sizable number in the Jamshedpur West Assembly seat.
Roy will hope for the consolidation of the Hindu vote base in his favour. Also, he will hope that the BJP is able to transfer votes in his favour.
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There are, however, concerns in Roy’s camp that his rebellion in the 2019 elections could weigh on the BJP workers. If the BJP is not able to transfer votes in his favour, Roy may struggle against Gupta.
At the same time, Roy is banking on his image in the constituency. The BJP rebel candidate in Jamshedpur West will also be a factor. He is the only candidate of the Janata Dal (United) in Jharkhand.
Roy will hope that the Rajput vote base votes in his favour en bloc. The BJP rebel also hails from the Rajput caste.
The political observers claim that Roy’s experience may see him through in the tough elections while the division of the Muslim votes may harm Gupta’s prospects.
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