Can the Congress, fighting on the basis of JMM in Jharkhand, become king’s advocate?
The first phase of voting in Jharkhand has ended. The slowness of the old grand party congress was more discussed than the 43-seat vote. The Congress, which emerged as the kingmaker in the 2019 elections, is contesting this time with the support of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha. The question is, can the Congress party, which campaigned on the basis of JMM, become the kingmaker in this election?
Congress won 16 seats in 2019
In the 2019 parliamentary elections, the Congress won 16 seats. The party came to power along with the JMM and got 4 positions in the cabinet. The Congress and JMM government lasted for five years. However, many of the promises made by Congress in 2019 failed to materialize.
After Hemant Soren was jailed in early 2024, the Congress became completely dependent on Hemant Soren. The Congress party also benefited from it in the Lok Sabha elections. Its seats in Jharkhand increased from one to two. This time the party is in full capitulation mode.
Declaration released one day ago
In Jharkhand, Congress released its manifesto on the last day. The Congress named the declaration ‘Bharosa Patra’. Interestingly, no local or national leaders were on stage when the declaration was released. The party’s manifesto was released by Bandhu Tirkey, chairman of the manifesto committee.
There is nothing new in the manifesto either. The Congress manifesto revolves around Mukti Morcha in Jharkhand. The party has made all the same promises that Jharkhand Mukti Morcha made in its constitution.
For example, the Congress has included issues like respect for women, caste census and Khatyani policy in its manifesto, just like the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha.
Overall, the Congress manifesto is a complete copy of the JMM.
Lack of strong leadership at local level
The Jharkhand district council lacks strong leaders. No leader in the country can single-handedly rally the masses. Congressional candidates must live with the consequences in their campaigns.
Interestingly, the photo of the secretary-general of the National Congress was replaced by the photo of the local leader. In the party’s manifesto, a large photo of Ghulam Ahmed Mir replaced the local leader.
Behind him are pictures of Kamlesh Mahato and Rameshwar Oraon. Oraon was unable to move out of his Lohardaga district, while Kamlesh Mahato was unable to gather crowds.
The Congress party previously had two local leaders, Dheeraj Sahu and Alamgir Alam, but both leaders are now facing corruption charges and the Congress party has distanced itself from both men.
Big leaders leave, Congress relies on Hemant Kalpana
None of the key leaders of the Congress will be campaigning in Jharkhand. Party presidents Malikajun Haq and Rahul Gandhi did hold 2-4 rallies, but both leaders failed to cover all the seats. Priyanka has not held a single rally so far. Priyanka is said to be unlikely to visit Jharkhand now. Even if Priyanka holds a rally, she could hold one or two rallies in Jharkhand.
In this case, Congress candidates Hemant Soren and Kalpana Soren are locked in a contest. Kalpana and Hemant are also seeking votes from senior Congress leaders. Kalpana and Hemant have so far been seeking votes for Congress leaders like Ajay Kumar, Banner Gupta, Pradeep Yadav and others.
Congress is contesting from 29 seats in Jharkhand. The onus of getting the Congress MPs to win a majority of seats lies with Kalpana and Hemant.
When and how many seats did the Congress win in Jharkhand?
In the 2005 elections, the Congress formed an alliance with the JMM. The Congress contested the election with 41 seats, but the party could only win 9 seats. In the 2009 elections, the Congress Party contested 61 seats. In this election, the party won 14 seats and the Congress was in opposition.
In the 2014 elections, the Congress again contested against the JMM, but this time the party won only 6 seats. Many big leaders including Sukhdev Bhagat, KN Tripathi lost the elections.
The party made a comeback in the 2019 parliamentary elections, winning 16 seats.
