Chhatradhar Mahato fighting it out from Jhargram

Chhatradgar Mahato, the leader of the Peoples' Committee against Police Atrocities (PCPA), is contesting this election from behind the bar in Jhargram assembly. Chhatradhar was arrested in September, 2009 for his role in the Lalgarh movement and the state police have booked him under the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).

His elder brother Shashadhar was a known extremist leader of that area and he was killed in encounter in March, 2011. Though Chhatradhar in public tried to distance himself from his brother's activities, the state police never bought that. Now, Chhatradhar's decision to contest the election has put him in a different light. Since the Naxalites (Maoists) abhor the parliamentary politics and stay away from participating in the elections, Chhatradhar's participation in election will give a different identity, which might imply that either he was never involved in that extremist politics, or he decided to snap his relation with the extremists and ready to walk on the parliamentary path. The entry of Chhatradhar Mahato in the election has the turned the Jhargram assembly election into a triangular contest. Both the CPI (M) and the TMC are hoping that Chhatradhar would cut into opposition's voted bank and thus ensure their victory.