In Jharkhand, BJP takes the battle to INDIA bloc: ‘infiltration’ plank to tribal base to sops

In the 2019 Assembly polls, the JMM-Congress-RJD alliance won 47 seats in the 81-member House, while the BJP won 25 seats. Soren went on to become the CM.

Jharkhand Assembly elections, BJP vs INDIA bloc, infiltration, champai soren, money laundering case, Hemant Soren, hemant Soren resignation, JMM-Congress-RJD alliance, Jharkhand tribal base, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, Indian express news

In February this year, before his arrest in a money laundering case, Hemant Soren resigned as the CM to make way for then JMM leader Champai Soren. (File Photo)

Written by: Abhishek Angad

5 min readRanchiOct 16, 2024 07:05 AM IST First published on: Oct 16, 2024 at 07:05 AM IST

Chief Minister and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader Hemant Soren’s arrest earlier this year, alleged “illegal infiltration” in the Santhal Pargana region, and a welfare war. These are among the burning issues in Jharkhand in the run-up to the two-phase state Assembly elections to be held on November 13 and 20.

In the 2019 Assembly polls, the JMM-Congress-RJD alliance won 47 seats in the 81-member House, while the BJP won 25 seats. Soren went on to become the CM. But a lot has changed since. In February this year, before his arrest in a money laundering case, Soren resigned as the CM to make way for then JMM leader Champai Soren.

Soren came out from prison on bail in July, but Champai did not give in easily. After some hiccups — which included allegations that he was “humiliated” by the party — Champai reluctantly stepped down as the CM. He subsequently went on to join the BJP.

Currently, the BJP is looking to forge a strong NDA coalition and build a narrative against the incumbent INDIA alliance. The BJP has reached out to the All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU), which had won two seats in 2019, and the Janata Dal (United) to shape a formidable NDA for the upcoming polls. The party’s Jharkhand election in-charge and Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma has said that the AJSU might get 9 to 11 seats to contest, while the JD(U) could be allotted two seats. The BJP’s talks are also said to be on with the Chirag Paswan-led Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas).

On the INDIA alliance front, the JMM and the Congress seem to be a step behind, with both the parties staking claim on more seats than last time. In 2019, the JMM contested in 43 seats and won 30. The Congress won 16 of the 31 seats where it had fielded candidates.

In the recent Lok Sabha polls, the BJP lost all of the five Schedule Tribe (ST)-reserved seats, ostensibly due to the damage caused due to Soren’s arrest. As the CM is a strong tribal face with a significant mass support on the ground —- the JMM-Congress combine won 26 of the 28 ST-reserved Assembly seats in 2019 — his arrest and its legality would be a key campaign point for the INDIA bloc. Whether that again evokes tribal sentiments remains to be seen.

For the BJP, the tribal-dominated Kolhan area in southern Jharkhand, with its 14 Assembly seats, seems like the big task at hand as it had faced a complete rout here last election. The party is hoping that the entry of Champai, who represents the Saraikela constituency in Kolhan, will help it regain lost ground in this region. Senior BJP leader and former Union minister Arjun Munda is slated to fight from this region too, again highlighting the focus the BJP has placed on this region this time.

The Santhal Pargana division, which has 18 seats, is seeing a high-pitched battle of narratives with the BJP levelling allegations of land grabbing by “Bangladeshi infiltrators” in the area. In the 2019 polls, the JMM had won 14 seats here, while BJP had won the remaining four.

The JMM has hit out at the BJP for politicising the infiltration issue. “BJP leaders were saying that there has been infiltration in Santhal Pargana. The BJP (at the Centre) is hiding its weakness and failure (in not protecting the borders) and passing it off as the JMM’s failure. The state government wants the security to be increased in border areas, if at all there are infiltrators. However, it is clear that the BJP wants to do politics of Hindu-Muslim (by stoking tensions) before the elections,” JMM spokesperson Vinod Pandey said.

In an affidavit filed in the Jharkhand High Court on September 12, the Ministry of Home Affairs said there had been “no linkages of Bangladeshi immigrants in land related cases”.

As seen in elections in every state, welfare politics is also taking centre stage in Jharkhand too. The JMM has been highlighting the main projects of its tenure — the increased pension beneficiaries in the state; the Sarkar Aapke Dwar camps for door-step delivery of government services; the cash transfer of Rs 1,000 to each underprivileged woman aged 18-50 under the Maiyya Samman Yojna scheme; and employment offers.

The BJP has promised the Gogo Didi Yojna as part of its five resolutions for the election. The scheme, the BJP has said, will provide Rs 2,100 per month to all women of the state. Raising the stakes higher, the JMM said it will come up with a JMM Samman Yojna if voted to power through which Rs 2,500 will be given to underprivileged women in the state. The Soren government approved the first tranche of the transfer on October 14.