Election campaigning is in full swing for all 81 Jharkhand Assembly seats. Here, the NDA alliance, which includes BJP, AJSU and JDU, is competing with the JMM, Congress and RJD alliance. In addition to these two alliances in Jharkhand, parties like the JKLM have also entered the fray, trying to make the contest triangular. In the 2019 assembly elections, the JMM alliance and the Congress won 47 seats, while the BJP was limited to just 25 seats. After the victory in Haryana, the morale of the Bharatiya Janata Party is high. Currently, the BJP does not have to face the anti-incumbency factor like in Haryana because the BJP has been away from power here for the last 5 years. Still, the BJP faces a tough time returning to power in Jharkhand. Still, the road to Jharkhand is not easy for the party.
1- How much hope does the BJP have for the tribals of Jharkhand?
Jharkhand is known as a tribal dominated state. According to the 2011 census, the tribal population here is about 26 percent. Of the 81 assembly seats in Jharkhand, 28 are reserved for tribals. Thus, the key to power in this state lies solely with the tribals. Here, tribals have been the issue in every election since 2005. But this time, in the Lok Sabha elections, the tribals’ discontent towards the BJP was clearly visible. The fact that the BJP did not win a single seat among the seats reserved for the scheduled tribes shows that the discontent of the tribals with the party has not. term. There was a similar sentiment in the tribal society in the assembly elections of 2019. Then all the tribal candidates who contested the assembly elections on the BJP ticket had lost. This time, in the Lok Sabha elections, former Union Minister Arjun Munda, who is a two-time CM of Jharkhand and comes from a tribal community, could not even win the elections.
Generally in Jharkhand, till now tribals like Babu Lal Marandi, Arjun Munda, Shibu Soren, Madhu Koda, Hemant Soren, Champai Soren have been holding the reins of the state. Only once did the state get a non-tribal CM in the form of Raghubar Das. The remaining six chief ministers belong to the tribal community. Interestingly, four of these former CMs, Arjun Munda, Babu Lal Marandi, Champai Soren and Madhu Koda, are currently in the BJP. Apart from these tribal chief ministers, the BJP has also inducted other prominent tribal leaders Lobin Hembram, Sita Soren and Geeta Koda into the party. 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 fourth consecutive victory in Madhya Pradesh was attributed to the scheme to provide financial assistance to women launched by then Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. After that, similar schemes were started in many states. The Girl Sister program in Maharashtra is a result of this. Similarly, Maiya Samman Yojana was also started in Jharkhand. The Jharkhand government is sending lakhs of rupees every month to the accounts of around 8 lakh women since the month of August. Similarly, there is a plan to build around 20 lakh free houses for people from poor families. Abua Awas Yojana and Maiya Samman Yojana can prove to be a turning point for Hemant Soren.
3- FIR and ED raids against JMM leaders
The party has used the FIR and ED raids against Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leaders as a victim card among the tribal community. Chief Minister Hemant Soren after his arrest in the corruption case was successful in coming out and explaining that he. He was deliberately trapped. It is absolutely innocent. The court has also found him innocent. This is proving costly for the BJP.
4- They demand to include Sarna as a separate religion
A section of the tribal community in India believes in the Sarna religion and not Hinduism. According to them, the sarna are those people who love nature. This movement is most vocal in Jharkhand. Jharkhand has the largest population of followers of this religion with 42 lakhs. This is the reason why the Jharkhand government passed a resolution in the Assembly and sent a proposal to the central government to grant separate religion status to the Sarna religion. This is the reason why the BJP is finding it difficult to make inroads among the tribals.
5- Magic of Kalpana Soren
Chief Minister Hemant Soren’s wife has so far stayed away from politics. She has stayed busy in social work. But after Hemant Soren went to jail, he played an important role in managing the party. He has now become an MLA. He speaks powerfully at JMM meetings. Party candidates from across the state are demanding that Kalpana Soren come to their area once to campaign. Kalpana is highly educated and a good speaker. Most importantly, it has earned a good reputation not only among the tribals but also among the upper caste Hindus.
