Across the six Assembly constituencies comprising the “coal capital” of Jharkhand, the most pressing issues are the lack of employment opportunities, fuelling illegal mining and resultant fatal accidents, and the shortage of drinking water due to the diminishing groundwater levels in Dhanbad district. However, voters fret, the poll campaign in the Jharia, Tundi, Baghmara, Dhanbad, Sindri and Nirsa constituencies revolved mostly around election-time issues such as Jharkhand Loktantrik Krantikari Morcha (JLKM) chief Jairam Mahato’s ability to “cut into others’ votes”.

While from the NDA side, the BJP is contesting all the six seats, from the INDIA bloc, the Congress has candidates in the fray in Dhanbad, Jharia, Baghmara, the (JMM) is contesting Tundi and the CPI (ML)L Nirsa and Sindri seats. In 2019, the Congress and JMM had won Jharia and Tundi, respectively, while the BJP had won the other four constituencies.

This time, the most interesting contest is in Jharia, where two sisters-in-law are competing against each other — sitting Congress MLA Purnima Neeraj Singh vs the BJP’s Ragini Singh. Ragini’s husband Sanjeev has been in jail since 2017 in connection with the murder of Purnima’s husband, his cousin and former Dhanbad deputy mayor Neeraj Singh. Three years earlier, in the 2014 polls, Sanjeev had defeated Neeraj.

The family draws its roots back to the infamous Suryadev Singh, Sanjeev’s father and former MLA whose early life is said to have inspired the Bollywood movie Gangs of Wasseypur.

That might have earned Jharia limelight, but made little difference to the lives of its 1 lakh odd residents. Despite multiple promises by successive governments, they live here with “unscientific coal mining”, underground fires and lack of access to clean drinking water.

Across Jharia, one can see rows of houses with cracks in them and the debris of collapsed ones as people refuse to take up the government offer of resettlement in Belgadiya village, pointing to the lack of economic opportunities. Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Muslims dominate the constituency, making up around 25% and 21% of the population.

A huge hoarding put up by supporters of Purnima at Indira Chowk in the heart of Jharia lists her “achievements” – “beautification of Raja pond”, “bringing RPD College back to Jharia”, “establishing a community health centre” and “constructing the Jharia-Baliapur road”.

Sitting at a tea stall facing the hoarding, 60-year-old Gorelal Rehmani rues the promises made by “countless politicians” over the last 24 years. “The beautification of the pond is fine, but we need drinking water. I am a daily wage worker and piped water supply is at least a kilometre away from my house,” he says, adding that most of his day goes arranging for water. While some are open to giving Purnima another chance, many across Jharia agree with Rehmani, insisting that a change is “the need of the hour”.

Ragini’s promise is the BJP’s “double engine sarkaar”, and to many, that is a lucrative one.

About 40 km from Jharia, in Tundi, the JMM’s Mathura Mahato is in a keen contest with the BJP’s Vikas Mahato. The Mahato community here forms a significant chunk of the electorate (around 14.3%) while Muslims and Dalits make up 16% each.

In the nearby Lukaiyya panchayat, a sub-urban area with pucca houses, 35-year-old Suraj Kumar Vishwakarma, a carpenter dressed in a white vest and shorts, claims the incumbent MLA has been “inaccessible” and voices his support for the BJP despite being a beneficiary of the JMM government’s welfare schemes. “My family is benefitting from the Maiyya Samman Yojana too but I do not trust this government’s promises. I think things will become better under the BJP,” he says.

Barely 100 metres away is 37-year-old Mohammad Sabir, a mason, who also claims the MLA is not “approachable” and says most Muslims will vote for the JMM and not the candidate. “Though Mathura is not approachable, we all want the JMM to win and will vote for them,” he says. Sabir goes on to elaborate on the water problem and says the Centre’s Har Ghar Jal Yojana is yet to reach them. “The community motor too is dysfunctional,” he adds.

Baghmara too is gearing up for a close contest with Satrughan Mahato, brother of BJP Dhanbad MP Dullu Mahato, taking on Congress veteran Jaleshwar Mahato. The battle here is between Dullu’s “personal connections” with the electorate and the Congress’s capability to arrest the sway of votes towards a rebel, Rohit Yadav.

At Harnahirak Chowk, 45-year-old Naresh Razak sits in his beetle shop. A self-proclaimed follower of Dullu, he says the MP helped him secure employment with a coal excavation company 14 years ago. Naresh claims the Rs 15,000 a month job helps feed “at least six families” and is wary that the JLKM candidate may cut into the votes of other candidates.

In conversation with Naresh is 48-year-old Narayan Razak, who irons clothes to make ends meet. “After my father passed away 10 years ago, we had gone to Dullu’s house for help. He gave me Rs 5,000 and also arranged for a water tank during the funeral. Why should I not vote for him?” he asks.

As Dullu’s detractors accuse him of “profiting from the emotions” of voters rather than finding long-term solutions to their problems, Congress supporter fruit seller Jaikishan Rawani claims that Yadav could eat into Jaleswar’s votes and hurt his prospects.

In the urban seat of Dhanbad, where Muslims, STs and Singhs dominate the electorate, the BJP’s Raj Sinha seems to be the “frontrunner” as voters feel that the Congress delayed the announcement of its candidate, Ajay Dubey, whose “presence is not felt in the constituency”.

In Nirsa, which falls roughly 30 km from Dhanbad, incumbent BJP MLA Aparna Sengupta will lock horns with the CPI(ML)L’s Arup Chatterjee, who has been working to provide relief to families of persons killed due to illegal mining.

In Sindri, incumbent BJP MLA Indrajit Mahato’s wife Tara Devi has been fielded due to her husband’s ailing health. Devi has gone into the election claiming she is looking after three houses – her constituency, her own house and her ailing husband. She is up against the CPI(ML)L’s Bablu Mahato.