Hemant Soren, Malikajun Haq and Ghulam Ahmed Mir
Hemant Soren is trying to come to power in Jharkhand for the second consecutive time. Hemant joins allies the Congress and the RJD in the race against the BJP, but Hemant’s party is more strained by the Congress than the BJP. There are 5 reasons for this tension. The first reason is the magic number 42. Without Congress’ support, Hemant’s party will not be able to touch the 42 figure easily.
The second reason is Congress’s decision to field candidates to 29 seats. As per the agreement, Congress has fielded candidates for 29 seats. The Congress is the second largest party in the alliance after the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha.
In addition to these two reasons, there are three other reasons why Hemant and his team are nervous…
Why are tensions at JMM heightened by Congress?
The Congress is an ally of the Mukti Morcha Party in Jharkhand. In 2019, a bipartisan government was formed on the basis of 30 seats for the JMM and 15 seats for the Congress. This time, both parties will have to perform well to form the government, but the JMM is in a tight spot because of the way Congress is functioning.
1. Congress cannot regulate insurrectionists
A major reason for rising tensions in the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha is the Congress party’s inability to manage the insurgents. The powerful Congress rebels are already in the fray in Jharkhand’s Simdega, Manika, Bhishunpur, Balshi, Tolpa, Sisai and other seats. In Balshi, former MLA Umashankar is contesting on SP ticket only.
Shanti Bala Kerketta of Simdgarh, Muneshwar Oraon of Manika, Punit Hembram of Tolpa also participated in the rebellion. So far, Congress has been unable to regulate these insurgents. Instead, the BJP’s arch-rebels have left the fray and returned to the party. Among them, the names of Satyanand Jha Batul and Raj Paliwar stand out.
The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha fears a game will ensue in these seats if the Congress rebels lose control.
2. Congress is firmly opposed to RJD getting these seats
Both the RJD and the Congress have fielded candidates in 2 seats in the Jharkhand Assembly. Out of these two seats, one is Chhatarpur and the other is Bishranpur. Congress conferred symbol on Sudhir Mahato in Bishranpur. Naresh Prasad Singh is the candidate from RJD.
In 2019, Naresh Prasad Singh, who ran as an independent candidate, received 27,000 votes. Congress MP Chandrashekhar Dubey came fourth in the election. The BJP’s Ramchandra Chandravanshi directly benefited from the vote distribution.
Chandravanshi won the election easily. This time JMM tried to contain Chandravanshi forcefully, but Congress along with RJD gave the sign from here.
The situation is similar in Chhatarpur. Congress has issued tickets to Radhakrishna Kishore from here. Vijay Kumar is the candidate on the RJD symbol. Pushpa Devi is once again in the fray for the Bharatiya Janata Party ticket.
In the 2019 elections, RJD’s Vijay Kumar lost to Pushpa Devi by about 26,000 votes. In the recently held Lok Sabha elections, the RJD also suffered a crushing defeat in this seat of Palamu.
Following this logic, Congress selected its candidates from here. It is said that Pushpa’s path may be easier here due to the triangular rivalry.
3. Big leaders also rely on JMM to win wars
Congress has fielded many big names in this assembly election. The strategy of sending in veterans was to make it easy for them to manage the elections, but despite the presence of these veterans, the tension in the JMM did not lessen.
Senior Congress leaders are also said to be dependent on the Soren family. All the leaders are busy organizing the rally of Kalpana and Hemant Soren. Ajoy Kumar of Jamshedpur East and KN Tripathi of Daltonganj have also been successful in this regard.
Congress leaders, on the other hand, remain lagging in countering the BJP’s rhetoric. So far, the front end has only been handled by JMM.
Jharkhand’s 81-seat election, 42 seats must be won
Elections to 81 assembly seats in Jharkhand are planned to be held in two phases. The first phase of the election will be held on November 13. In the first phase, elections will be held in two divisional seats of Kulhan and Palamu.
In the second phase, elections will be held in Santal Pargana and South Chota Nagpur districts. The Jharkhand government requires 42 MLAs to be formed.
