Raghubar Das and the art of the possible

The CM has been able to keep turmoil at bay during his two years in office even

The Jharkhand chief minister’s official residence, a sprawling bungalow on Kanke Road in capital city Ranchi, has “vaastu dosh” (astrological defect of architecture). Astrologers attribute it to the state’s “addiction” to unstable rule.

When Raghubar Das entered the bungalow as the sixth chief minister of the 16-year-old state about two years ago, political pundits predicted that he, too, would not continue for long. On December 28, he completed two years in office in a state that has seen six chief ministers since it was bifurcated from Bihar in November 2000.

Although party colleague Arjun Munda holds the record for occupying the office for the longest time — 860 days from September 11, 2010 —Das is inching close towards breaking it. Battling “vaastu dosh” and political maneuvres, he has proved that politics is the art of the possible. For two years, Jharkhand has not witnessed any political turmoil. Political scientists say this is a measure of his acumen.

It helps that for the first time, the government led by Das is one that has absolute majority in the Assembly. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has 42 members in a house of 81. In the last two years, no second power centre has emerged in the state and the leadership of the chief minister remains unchallenged, both in the party and the government. After sabre rattling, his opponents have tamely fallen in line.

Das, who started his career as a casual worker with Tata Steel, has his own style of working. In meetings he never fails to tick off bureaucrats. This style may be questionable, but what is indisputable is his mission to take Jharkhand towards prosperity and development.

“I’ve tried my best to bring joy to your faces. I need your blessings to smoothly run this government and steer the state towards prosperity,” Das said in his address to the people on completing two years in office. The speech was an account of his government’s achievements and a message of gratitude to the masses.

“Janata hi bhagwan hai. Jab tak janata ka aashirvad mere sath rahega, mujhse koi galti nahin hogi (the masses are the real gods. As long as I enjoy their blessings, I will never make mistakes),” he said. “I can proudly say our government is a spotless one.”

This much is true: that a state that was once a byword for corruption has not witnessed any allegations of shady deals. No corruption charges have been levelled against members of the state Cabinet or bureaucrats in key positions. “No scam or financial irregularity has been reported during the past two years. Feel free to approach us any time; we are at your service,” he said.

The chief minister has never hesitated in taking tough decisions in the interest of the people of Jharkhand. Babulal Marandi, the first chief minister of the state, introduced domicile policy during his tenure. It sparked off violence across the state and is seen as a factor in the ouster of that BJP government (Marandi was then in the BJP). 

Since then, no chief minister dared to remove the dust from the files related to domicile policy. Das took the initiative and introduced it in a fresh format — without any unrest. Besides other clauses, the policy reserves Class III and IV jobs only for those with a state domicile certificate.

The other tough move by the Das administration was to amend the century-old tribal land protection laws. The state government has amended the Chotanagpur Tenancy (CNT) Act, 1908, and the Santhal Pargana Tenancy (SPT) Act, 1949, to allow non-agricultural use of land by the owner without the transfer of ownership. The amendments will also allow acquisition of land by the government for the welfare and development of the region. 

Opposition parties have been crying foul, although they had advocated changes in the CNT and SPT Acts when they were in power. Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) Executive President Hemant Soren accused the Das government of “misleading” the people on the issue of tenancy laws.

Das visited his father and JMM chief Shibu Soren at his house to discuss the decision. The chief minister was unperturbed. “All confusion would be cleared once the benefits of the amendments to the Act translate into reality,” he said. 

He explained that the condition of tribal families remained deplorable despite their huge landholdings because they were not allowed to do anything other than farming. “But now, they will be able to put their land to various uses and in case the government acquires their land for development projects, the owner will be compensated at a rate better than what was offered under the prevailing land acquisition Act,” he assured.

The amendment would ensure increasing commercial land that would be used for infrastructure and industrial development. 

Political observers say the tenancy act amendment is a masterstroke of the Das government, provided it does not cause turmoil — as has been the case in the state’s political history.