The campaign for the 81 seats in the Jharkhand Assembly is at its peak. Here, the NDA alliance, including the BJP, AJSU and JDU, is competing against the JMM, Congress and RJD alliance. Apart from these two alliances in Jharkhand, parties such as JKLM have also entered the fray and are trying to shape the contest into a triangular configuration. In the 2019 assembly elections, the JMM-Congress alliance won 47 seats, while the BJP won only 25 seats. The morale of the BJP is high after its victory in Haryana. Currently, the BJP does not have to face anti-incumbency factors like in Haryana as it has been out of power here for 5 years. Still, the BJP faces a tough time returning to power in Jharkhand. Still, the road to Jharkhand will not be easy for the party.
1- How much hope does the BJP have for the tribals in Jharkhand?
Jharkhand is known as a tribal ruled state. According to the 2011 census, 28 of Jharkhand’s 81 assembly seats are reserved for tribals, who account for about 26% of the population. In this way, the key to power in this country is only the tribe. Since 2005, tribal issues have been an issue in every election. But this time in the Lok Sabha elections, tribal dissatisfaction with the BJP was evident as the BJP failed to win even a single seat in the seats reserved for Scheduled Tribes, indicating that tribal dissatisfaction with the party has not gone away. it’s over. Similar sentiments were seen in tribal societies during the 2019 assembly elections. Then all the tribal candidates who contested the assembly elections on the BJP ticket failed. In this Lok Sabha election, Arjun Munda, a two-time chief minister of Jharkhand and a former federal minister from a tribal community, could not even win the election.
Generally speaking, in Jharkhand, tribals like Babu Lal Marandi, Arjun Munda, Shibu Soren, Madhu Koda, Hemant Soren, Champai Soren etc. have been holding the power of the state so far. The state had only once a non-tribal chief minister, Raghubar Das, and the remaining six chief ministers belonged to tribal communities. Interestingly, four of them former chief ministers Arjun Munda, Babu Lal Marandi, Champai Soren and Madhu Koda are currently in the BJP. Apart from these tribal chief ministers, the BJP also includes some other prominent tribal leaders such as Lobin Hembram, Sita Soren and Geeta Koda. Even after this, if the BJP does not seem to be getting tribal votes, what could be the reason?
2-Maiya Samman Yojana and Abua Awas Yojana
The BJP’s four consecutive victories in Madhya Pradesh were attributed to the scheme launched by then Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan to provide financial assistance to women. Since then, many states have implemented such programs. Maharashtra’s Girl Sisterhood Scheme is the result. Similarly, Maiya Samman Yojana has also been launched in Jharkhand. Since August, the Jharkhand government has been sending Rs 1,000 every month into the accounts of around 800,000 women. Likewise, there is a plan to build about 2 million houses free of charge for poor families. Abua Awas Yojana and Maiya Samman Yojana can prove to be a game changer for Hemant Soren.
3- FIR and ED raid on JMM leaders
The party played FIR and ED raids against Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader as its own victim card among tribal communities. After being arrested in a corruption case, Hemant Soren managed to come forward and explain his actions. Being trapped on purpose. He is absolutely innocent. The court also found him not guilty. This proved costly for the BJP.
4- Demand for Sarna to be included in an independent religion
A section of Indian tribal communities practice the Sarna religion, not Hinduism. According to them, Sarna people are those who worship nature and this movement is strongest in Jharkhand. Jharkhand has the largest number of followers of the religion at 4.2 million. To this end, the Jharkhand government passed a resolution in the Assembly and made recommendations to the central government to grant the status of a separate religion to Sarna. This is why it is difficult for the BJP to make inroads among tribals.
5-The Magic of Kalpana Sauron
Chief Minister Hemant Soren’s wife had earlier stayed away from politics. She has been busy with social work. But after Hemant Soren was jailed, he played an important role in running the party. Now that she is an MLA, she speaks powerfully at JMM meetings. Party candidates across the state requested Kalpana Soren to come and campaign once in their areas. Kalpana was highly educated and a good speaker and most importantly she was famous not only among the tribes but also among the upper caste Hindus.
