A statement has come from Jharkhand Chief Electoral Officer Ravi Kumar. K Ravi Kumar has said that preparations have been completed at the district level for the assembly elections. Information in this regard has been given to the Commission and soon the Commission team will visit the state. After this statement of the Chief Electoral Officer, possibilities are being expressed that the Election Commission may announce the schedule for Jharkhand elections by the first or second week of September.
The ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), making the arrest of CM Soren an issue, is preparing to repeat the successful use of tribal identity and victim card in the Lok Sabha elections in the assembly elections also. At the same time, after losing all the five seats reserved for tribals in the Lok Sabha elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has already started preparations to deal with it in the assembly elections. What is BJP’s plan to counter JMM’s strategy? Let us understand.
Preparation to make big leaders candidates
BJP can give tickets to big leaders in the assembly elections on the lines of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. It is also being said that a meeting was held with state in-charge Laxmikant Vajpayee, Himanta Biswa Sarma and Shivraj Singh Chauhan as well as state president Babulal Marandi in which a consensus has been reached on this matter. The party has also given a signal to the leaders coming from the tribal community as well as the influential leaders of the non-tribal community to start preparing to contest the elections. Former Chief Ministers Babulal Marandi, Arjun Munda, Sudarshan Bhagat, Sameer Oraon, Sunil Soren, Arun Oraon, Dinesh Oraon, Asha Lakra, Lewis Marandi, Shivshankar Oraon, Geeta Koda, Badkunwar Gagrai, Tala Marandi as well as Sita Soren have also been made candidates. There is discussion of.
collective leadership formula
From the ruling alliance, Chief Minister Hemant Soren will be the CM face but there is no possibility that BJP will declare the CM face. Instead of entering the election fray by declaring any leader as the CM face, the party will go to the elections only with its collective leadership formula which has been tried in many states. By making big leaders contest elections and not declaring CM face, factionalism is curbed and every group works hard to win with the hope of making its leader the CM. This also affects the surrounding seats.
Preparation to sharpen issues related to tribal society
During the recent monsoon session of Parliament, Nishikant Dubey, BJP MP from Godda seat in Jharkhand, had set the tone of BJP’s campaign for tribal seats. Nishikant Dubey was seen attacking the Jharkhand government in the Parliament regarding the decreasing participation of tribal community in the total population, the problem of Bangladeshi infiltrators in tribal dominated areas and the changing demography. By making Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma the co-in-charge, BJP had also indicated that it will strongly raise the issue of infiltration and changing demography in elections.
Also read: Will these areas be separate from Bihar-Bengal and Jharkhand? What is the stake behind this demand of Nishikant Dubey?
Alliance with AJSU
BJP, which is trying to strengthen its political base among the tribal voters, has made it clear even before the announcement of the election program that the party will go to the election field in alliance with All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU). Himanta Biswa Sarma has announced this after meeting AJSU chief Sudesh Mahato. Sudesh Mahato is vocal against Hemant government on issues related to tribal society. In such a situation, BJP’s strategy is to corner JMM on its strong tribal pitch through a big leader and party from the tribal community itself.
Also read: ‘We will drive away Bangladeshi infiltrators from Santhal Pargana…’ said BJP MP Nishikant Dubey.
What is the strength of tribal vote?
Jharkhand is counted among the tribal dominated states. The participation of tribal society in the total population of the state is about 26 percent. Elections are held for 81 seats of the 82-member Jharkhand Assembly. 28 assembly seats of the state are reserved for the tribal community. Talking about the 2019 Jharkhand elections, BJP could win only two out of these 28 seats. It remains to be seen how successful this strategy of BJP, which remained empty handed in the tribal lands in the Lok Sabha elections, will yield.