Why doesn’t the BJP directly attack Hemant Soren?
The electoral battle in Jharkhand pits India’s alliance with Hemant Soren on one side and the BJP-led NDA alliance on the other. Hemant Soren directly attacked the leaders of the BJP from the Center to the states and raised questions. Meanwhile, senior BJP leaders avoided direct attacks on Hemant Soren in their speeches.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah have addressed a total of five rallies in the past two days, but neither leader has targeted Hemant Soren in a single rally. In this situation, the discussion in the political circles is intensifying. Did the BJP abandon Hemant or did the party do it because of some strategy?
Hemant was not attacked even in one of Modi’s two rallies.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a rally in Ghawar for about 54 minutes. Prime Minister Modi raised many issues such as development, corruption and nepotism in Jharkhand at the rally. The prime minister also targeted the Hemant government but not directly.
Prime Minister Modi did not even mention Hemant in his speech. Thereafter, the Prime Minister held a rally in Chaibasa. There is no attack on Prime Minister Hemant Soren here either but more focus on the development of the tribe and the mention of daughter land and bread.
Prime Minister Modi targeted the Congress and the RJD most in his speech. Modi said that both the Congress and the RJD are anti-tribal parties. It’s important to know its history.
Amit Shah also looks soft on Hemant Soren
A day before Prime Minister Modi’s rally, on October 3, Union Home Minister Amit Shah held three rallies in Jharkhand. Shah appeared soft on Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren in all three of his rallies. Addressing a rally in Ghazira, Shah said the BJP was not for change in Hemant Soren but for change in Jharkhand.
He further said that we are working hard to promote change. Amit Shah said we are here to drive out infiltrators and corrupt elements. Earlier, Jharkhand BJP co-chief Himanta Biswa Sarma had invited Hemant to join the BJP.
Two months ago, Himanta had said that if Hemant wanted to join the BJP, then he should agree on these issues. We will talk to the top leadership of the BJP for them. JMM and BJP formed an alliance in 2010.
Why doesn’t the BJP directly attack Hemant?
1. Strategies to weaken tribal votes—— The BJP is eyeing the tribal voters in the state. The number of tribal voters in Jharkhand is 26%. Tribal people are considered the core voters of the Mukti Morcha in Jharkhand. In the recently held Lok Sabha elections, the JMM alliance won all five seats reserved for tribals.
Hemant’s imprisonment was one of the reasons for the failure in tribal areas. When Hemant was jailed, his wife saw it as a matter of tribal identity.
In the 2019 assembly elections, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha alliance also performed well in Santhal and Kolkhan. In the 2019 elections, the JMM alliance won 24 seats reserved for tribals.
The BJP won only 2 seats. This time, the BJP has begun formulating multiple strategies simultaneously to reduce support among tribal voters. One of the reasons for this is said to be not to attack Hemant directly.
2. Hemant vs. Which side will be in trouble? The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and its allies raised Hemant’s face. Hemant and his wife Kalpana have been working in this field. The BJP, on the other hand, has decided to contest the election without showing its face.
In this context, some say, if the top leadership of the BJP attacks Hemant directly, then who might Hemant fight with. Currently, there are more than 5 leaders in the BJP who are direct competitors to the CM.
If the Hemant-Cowan fight reaches a stalemate, the BJP may suffer as the party currently does not have any leader who can contest against Hemant.
