New roads, schools in Birsa Munda birthplace, but lack of development still a poll issue in Jharkhand’s tribal seats

But there is an undercurrent of dissatisfaction running among Ulihatu’s residents. Some complain that when the PM visited, the local administration covered houses not deemed presentable with green nets. With voting for the Lok Sabha polls set to begin on Monday, there is seemingly a lack of political enthusiasm in the area and there is no overt support for any party.

Birsa Munda’s great-grandson Sukram, who is in his late 80s, is not optimistic about the ongoing elections. “None of the political parties actually deliver what they promise. There are some basic issues, like drinking water for every household, which need to be solved. When the PM came the entire area was covered with green cloth because aesthetically this did not look nice,” said Sukram, who decided to stay in Ulihatu and run a small grocery store rather than relocate with his two sons who work in the local administration in the Khunti district headquarters.

The stone plaque, erected during the Pathalgadi movement, in the Kochang area of Arki block en route to Aarahatu. The plaque mentions tribal communities’ “right to self rule” and the provisions of PESA Act under the 5th Schedule of the Constitution. (Express Photo/Abhishek Angad)

Though Ulihatu has seen some development, it remains an outlier among tribal villages.

Not far, around 60 km from the Arki block headquarters in the Khunti district, is the Aarahatu colony in Bowanda revenue village. A kilometre away from the village, the motorable road gives way to a dirt track, traversable only on foot. In the Aarahatu colony, which The Indian Express visited, there is no electricity. “Most of the tola (colony) under this village do not have electricity,” said Biswanath Linda, the booth-level officer supervisor. There are 13 colonies within Bowanda, which is home to about 5,000 people.

Sukhdev Munda, a first-time voter in Aarahatu, said the colony did not participate in the Pathalgadi movement – which began in Khunti after the BJP government attempted to amend two laws on tribal land in 2017 – because the villagers were “not convinced by the cause”. In 2019, angry tribal voters had boycotted the elections, leading to turnouts as low as 0.14% in some Khunti booths. This time though, the lack of development here is the main poll issue and more voters are expected to turnout. “No political leaders ever came here. There is no development as you can see in the village. During a health crisis, there is no ambulance which comes to our tola. But after someone dies, a private ambulance ferries the dead to our homes on request,” Sukhdev said.

In Saraikela-Kharsawan district within the Khunti constituency, Durga Munda, however, is among those who have decided against voting. A participant in the Pathalgadi movement, Durga says, “Last year, very little rainfall occurred and we could not sow enough. This year too, we are dependent on God. Jab tak upar wala nahi dekhega, hum nahi dekh payenge (Until god cares for us in the form of rain, we will not be able to lift ourselves with crop harvests).”

Khunti’s sitting MP and Union Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda told The Indian Express it was not possible to visit every village. “As an MP, I have 1,700 days to visit a total of 5,000 revenue villages… We visit villages, but we cannot visit all,” he said. Though the minister blames the lack of facilities on “state institutions”, he is hopeful the BJP-led Centre’s development pitch will work in his favour.

Ulihatu village, the birthplace of tribal icon Birsa Munda. (Express Photo/Abhishek Angad)

However, his rival, the Congress’s Kalicharan Munda, is hoping to benefit from anti-incumbency, particularly given that the sitting MP had won in 2019 by a slim margin of just 1,445 votes.

In the Singhbhum Lok Sabha constituency, another tribal-reserved seat, voices on the ground suggest there is an anger against Geeta Koda, turncoat BJP candidate from the tribal Ho community, who had won last time on a Congress ticket. She is facing the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha’s Jobha Manjhi, who belongs to Santhali community.

From shopkeepers in Chaibasa to contract workers in Chakradharpur to villagers across the constituency, people agree Singhbhum would be “tightly contested”. While the battle was initially pitched as a Ho versus Santhali contest, this narrative has waned recently .

In Singhbhum’s Tantnagar area, dominated by the Ho community, voters are looking for alternatives to the mainstream parties. Jackson Biruli in Sevengbil village is among those vouching for Independent candidate Madhav Chandra Konkan. But most other residents here are yet to decide.

Around 30 km away, in Haribeda village, Gundaram Kalondia, 25, says many village communities are struggling. “We don’t get jobs easily, people go to Odisha, which is less than 50 km from here. We made Geeta Koda win the last election despite the Modi wave, but this time, we are not going to because she changed her party,” Kalondia said.

In the Lohardaga Lok Sabha constituency, support is scattered across the parties, though urban voters are leaning towards the BJP. Sukhdev Bhagat, the former Jharkhand Congress president who had joined the BJP in 2019 before returning to the Congress, is the INDIA bloc candidate here. Bhagat faces the BJP’s Sameer Oraon, who replaced three-time incumbent MP Sudarshan Bhagat.

In Lohardaga’s rural areas, voters are split between the Congress and BJP. For the Congress, JMM rebel Chamra Linda’s entry into the fray as an Independent could hurt the party.

A booth-level officer (BLO), Anganwadi worker Sevika, is a footsoldier in conducting elections in Jharkhand. Anganwadis form an important role in early education of rural children and during elections, they get the additional charge as BLOs raising awareness and distributing voter registration slips. (Express Photo/Abhishek Angad)

But in urban parts of Lohardaga, Modi’s popularity, rather than the Ram Temple in Ayodhya or the abrogation of Article 370, is the main draw for BJP supporters. On the debate over the Constitution, and the Congress’s charge that the BJP would alter it if elected again, voters remain unconvinced. “Sambhidhan ko badla nahi jaa sakta hai, kaun kehta hai? (Who says the Constitution could be changed?)” says Sitaram Sahu, a contractor in the Sisai block.

Despite the BJP’s development pitch and Modi’s popularity headlining the party’s campaign, the INDIA bloc in these three seats is framing the election as a fight between “common people and dictator Modi” with a focus on rising unemployment and the “threat” to the Constitution.

During Congress MP Rahul Gandhi’s campaign in the state’s tribal-reserved seats, he emphasised that INDIA bloc leaders, including former CM Hemant Soren, are fighting “to save the Constitution”. “The Constitution gives reservation, jobs, education, and treatment at hospitals; if this goes, then Adivasis and Dalits will be in disarray,” he said on May 7 in Singhbhum.

While many are unaware of Soren’s arrest in late January by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with a money laundering case, in parts of Singhbhum and Lohardaga, there is an undercurrent of tribal anger over his arrest. However, “politics mein to ye chalta rehta hai (this happens in politics)” remains a common sentiment among even tribal voters. In some remote corners, many do not know who Soren is, although they know the PM.

Across the villages visited by The Indian Express, many said they would collectively decide for whom to vote. One villager said, “We will hold a gram sabha before the elections and then decide.”