Raghubar Das
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A brief biography
1977-2019
ASRP Mukesh, Dec 24, 2019 The Times of India
Raghubar Das, Jharkhand’s first non-tribal chief minister who often takes pride in calling himself “son of a mazdoor”, emerged the biggest loser on Monday despite successfully running the first stable government since the state was formed in 2000.
From serving as a labourer in Tata Steel’s Jamshedpur plant to being the CM, Das’s political rise was meteoric. He was active in politics since his college days and took part in the JP movement and served a jail term during Emergency. He later joined Janata Party in 1977, and in 1980, he joined BJP as a founding member.
From a mandal-level karyakarta in Jamshedpur, Das rose through party ranks to become the state BJP chief in 2004. His first stint as an MLA from Jamshedpur East was in 1995 and he went on to represent the seat four more times.
Before the polls, BJP suffered a setback as ally Ajsu Party decided to go solo following seat-sharing disagreements. But Das went to the extent of picking candidates of his choice and denying tickets to several sitting MLAs, including cabinet colleague Saryu Rai. This earned him a band of dissenters. “While the BJP brass talked about the Ram temple in all its rallies, it seems to have forgotten Ramayana itself. Raghubar (another name of Lord Ram) had taken his samadhi in the Saryu river. The same thing has happened again,” a BJP worker said.
Das also paid for his unsuccessful attempts at amending pro-tribal tenancy laws that gave adivasis exclusive rights over their land, enactment of the Jharkhand Freedom of Religion Act, 2017 to prevent conversion of tribals, merger of government schools, among others. Closure of ancillary units in Jamshedpur and Seraikela-Kharsawan causing job losses, spiralling onion prices, a series of deaths allegedly due to hunger and mob lynchings during his regime also reduced his popularity.
