Two candidates from opposing camps who share a long history, waiver of power dues by the ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), and a slew of promises by the BJP are some factors at play in the constituency of Tamar in Jharkhand’s Ranchi district.

A seat reserved for Scheduled Tribes (STs), and one of the 15 in the state’s South Chotanagpur region, Tamar will go to the polls in the first phase on November 13. Here, incumbent JMM MLA Vikas Munda, a two-term legislator, will lock horns with former state minister Gopal Krishna Patar of the JD(U). Patar who is popularly known as Raja Peter is a key accused in the 2008 murder of Vikas’s father and former JD(U) MLA Ramesh Munda. STs comprise over 50% of the electorate while Dalits and Muslims make up around 9% and 7%, respectively.

Even as Vikas hopes the JMM’s welfare measures, especially the waiver of power dues, will resonate among semi-urban and rural voters and help him secure a hat-trick, a section of voters see the irony behind it. One such voter is businessman Rajkumar, who belongs to an Other Backward Class (OBC) community and did not wish to reveal his surname. “Ek bijli ka pole thik nahi hua pichle 10 saal se. Ek baar bijli jala phir kabhi aaya hi nahi laut ke (One electricity pole was not rectified in the last 10 years. The lights came once, but we never saw it again),” he says.

Claiming he is not ideologically inclined to any party, Rajkumar says anti-incumbency against Vikas is likely to help Peter. “Some people who have not benefited (from the government schemes) have developed a dislike for the dispensation,” he says.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) accused Peter of “masterminding” the fatal attack on Ramesh. At the time, the NIA deemed it to be a “Naxal attack”. Peter got bail last year and for some of his supporters, the case is no longer a key factor in the elections. Peter says that he hopes that his “personal connect” and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s appeal will see him through.

Peter’s hopes lie with voters such as 35-year-old Kani Devi, a tailor who has set up shop in the heart of the market area of Tamar. Her husband Sukhdev Sawasin, who hails from the Dalit community, lends her a hand. Devi, who learnt tailoring from a “master sahab” in her locality six years ago, is instrumental in helping the business thrive.

“I took the lead and learnt tailoring. Starting from a single sewing machine in the locality, today I own a shop and generate employment for six people. People earlier laughed at me and the state government has been of no help,” she says.

Though a beneficiary of the JMM’s government’s Maiyya Samman Yojana, which provides a monthly financial aid of Rs 1,000 to eligible women between 21 and 50 years old, Devi believes that the state government should have implemented the scheme much earlier.

“The JMM’s promises are purely for election purposes. I have registered for the BJP’s Didi Gogo Yojana, which has promised Rs 2,100 after the polls. I believe in the BJP and it will win,” says the self-proclaimed Modi fan. “Peter has always been available for us. Nobody remembers that he is a key accused in a murder case,” says her husband.

In 2009, Peter won the bypoll following Ramesh’s killing. He contested on a Jharkhand Party ticket and defeated JMM patriarch and former CM Shibu Soren. He retained the seat as a JD(U) nominee in 2009 and was subsequently elevated to the Arjun Munda Cabinet.

While a few people in the area feel that the Jharkhand Krantikari Loktantrik Morcha of Kudmi leader Jairam Kumar Mahato will play a significant role in the seat, a shop owner in the local market, Chamra Rawani who is from an OBC group, emphasised that the JMM’s move to waive power dues would be a “game changer”.

“The power dues waiver is resonating more among people than the Maiyya Samman Yojana. I can confidently say that the JMM will win here despite anti-incumbency as many people in villages who were burdened by the dues are free from it now,” she says, adding that a chunk of votes from OBCs, traditionally seen as BJP voters, will shift towards the JMM because of the waiver.