The hills are visible only after crossing Bandhgaon in neighbouring West Singhbhum district, a 45km smooth drive from Khunti town. This time, with the gathbandhan in place, it is a direct fight between Arjun Munda and the Congress’s Kalicharan Munda, who is the brother of BJP’s Khunti MLA Neelkanth Munda. “It’s a tight contest,” agrees Karia Munda, respected elder statesman of the district whose rank and file is disappointed he’s not contesting. Every election has its own challenges, Karia Munda seems to suggest when he admits that the BJP tally of 12 MPs could go down in Jharkhand this time. It is where one of the first pathalgadhi protests had fired in 2017.

Source: The Telegraph May 03, 2019 01:07 UTC