Man who leads a simple life to connect to tribals

KHUNTI: Karia Munda can give Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal a tough competition when it comes to humble lifestyle.
The deputy speaker of the 15th Lok Sabha and seven-time MP still lives in his old mud house in Anigara, a tribal village in Khunti.
The former minister ploughs his fields and does other manual work, like levelling the filed or cleaning weeds and shrubs, alone. This way, he says, he gets to interact with other villagers.
"My family feeds on vegetables that I grow in my fields," Munda, who is seeking re-election from Khunti parliamentary constituency for the eighth term on BJP ticket, said.
"We rarely buy vegetables from market as I grow enough," he quipped.
At a time when some of the ministers in Jharkhand have amassed crores of rupees, making to the list of corrupt politicians, and face several criminal charges, Munda has only Rs 75 lakh, as per the affidavit submitted by him. In 2009, his assets were worth Rs 59 lakh.
Besides a pucca house, 77-year-old Munda owns an old Ambassador car and a 2005 Tavera, which could be seen parked amid a cluster of kuchha houses.
There is no elaborate stone-paved driveway to disturb the rustic lifestyle but a bullock-cart wheel is neatly placed in front of his mud house.
Munda, who became a Union minister in 1977 in the Morarji Desai government, has walked shoulder to shoulder with former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and L K Advani, said one of his aides. "He has seen several political greenhorns turning into big leaders and amassing crores of money. But he is only concerned for serving people not earning money," he said.
Pradeep Sahu, who admires Munda for his simplicity, said, "In our country Arvind Kejriwal, Goa chief minister Manohar Parikar, CM of Tripura Manik Sarkar or Bengal CM Mamta Banerjee are known for being simple and down-to-earth. But no one talks about Mundaji. In fact, he (Munda) will be far simpler than all of them, if a comparison is drawn."
However, villagers in Anigara have little idea about Munda's much esteemed post in Delhi and feels comfortable in the company of their "brother".
"He bathes in the pond with us. He can be a heavyweight man in Delhi. But here he is our brother here," said Jawahar Munda, a villager.
"I like to bathe in the pond that is why I do it. It feels good to be close with my people," Munda said.
Less than 15 years ago, Munda said, fear was unknown to tribals in Khunti where 109 people were killed by criminals and Naxalites in 2013 alone.
But no security personnel was seen at Munda's house in Anigara on Saturday.
"I am like the common man here. Why do I need so many security personnel?" said Munda.
He moves in the district, considered a Naxalite hot-bed, with very little number of security personnel.
"Even Naxalites have a high regard for him because he is so simple. He is dear to one and all here," said Munna Munda, a relative of Karia.