Jharkhand BJP
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led NDA alliance has suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the ruling Jharkhand Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) alliance. Although the NDA tried its best to wrest power from JMM, it ultimately had to face defeat. Disappointed by this defeat, BJP leaders and workers are wondering what went wrong. Top BJP leaders such as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Vishwa Sharma campaigned vigorously in the state, but why did they suffer an embarrassing defeat?
BJP leaders held around 200 public meetings
The NDA did not field anyone as its chief ministerial candidate as its campaign mainly focused on “infiltration from Bangladesh” and “corruption” of Hemant Soren’s government. BJP leaders participated in about 200 public meetings, including about two dozen of the Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The BJP won only 21 seats.
In this assembly election, of the 81 seats in which the NDA contested, the BJP fielded its candidates in 68 seats, while the NDA’s ally AJSU contested in 10 seats, JD(U) in two and LJP. (R) on a seat. The BJP could win 21 of 68 seats, while the Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) party could win only 1 of 10 seats. While JD(U) won 1 out of 2 seats and LJP(R) won one seat. At the same time, contrary to what the ‘exit poll’ indicates, Hemant Soren’s Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) scored a huge victory with 34 of the 43 seats it contested. Also, the Congress has won a total of 16 seats.
According to political experts, there are many factors that explain the NDA’s defeat in these elections:
- Not fielding a tribal chief minister in the elections proved costly for the party.
- At the same time, local BJP leaders felt that the entire show was run by “two outside leaders” and the state BJP ignored its own people and gave tickets to leaders of other parties. For this reason, BJP MP Kedar Hazra along with former minister Lewis Marandi joined the JMM just before the elections, accusing the party leaders of apathy. This reduced the morale of the party.
- Furthermore, the BJP completely failed to raise grassroots issues relevant to the people throughout its campaign and the party’s campaign focused on national issues and ‘infiltration’ that did not connect with the rural masses.
- Additionally, women from the JMM’s traditional vote bank (Muslim, Christian and tribal) were included through programs like ‘Maiyan Samman Yojana’. Under the ‘Maiyan Samman Yojana’, it was promised that the assistance amount for women between 18 and 50 years would be Rs 2,500 per month instead of the current Rs 1,000. Note that of the 81 assembly seats in Jharkhand, the number of women voters is more than men in 68 seats.
Also read:
Jharkhand Assembly Elections 2024: Who won and from which Jharkhand seat? See the assembly results here
