SUMAN K SHRIVASTAVA
Ranchi, June 4: In a major setback, the BJP has lost all five parliamentary constituencies reserved for tribals in Jharkhand i.e. Khunti, Lohardaga, Singhbhum, Rajmahal and Dumka.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP lost two seats-Rajmahal and Singhbhum and retained the Khunti seat with a slender margin.
While Union Tribal Affairs Arjun Munda lost to Congress’ Kalicharan Munda in Khunti, Sita Soren lost to JMM’s old warhorse and seasoned seven-time MLA Nalin Soren in Dumka. The BJP fielded Sita, an ex-JMM MLA, in Dumka after withdrawing its official nominee and sitting MP Sunil Soren.
Former Chief Minister Madhu Koda’s wife Geeta Koda, who defected to the BJP ahead of the Lok Sabha election, lost in Singhbhum to Joba Manjhi of the JMM. The JMM has retained Rajmahal where Vijay Hansdak defeated Tala Marandi of the BJP. The BJP replaced its sitting MP Sudarshan Bhagat with Sameer Oraon in Lohardaga to beat anti-incumbency, but he too lost to Sukhdev Bhagat of the Congress.
What went wrong?
Political watchers attributed this backlash from the tribals to various reasons. First, the BJP could not effectively counter the Opposition narrative set during the Raghubar Das regime that the party would change the CNT (Chotanagpur Tenancy) Act and remove the shield which protected their land. They continued to see the BJP with the suspicion that they would lose their land once the saffron party came into power.
The BJP workers, who could have countered this narrative, were not enthusiastic and galvanised at the grassroots level.
Second, the BJP’s charge that the JMM and the Congress leaders are thoroughly corrupt also apparently did not convince the tribal voters. “Who is not corrupt? They often retorted.
“They are perhaps resigned to their fate that whoever is in power will loot the public resources. So, it was not a major issue among the tribals,” said a political watcher.
Besides, the issue of Sarna code for tribals also played spoilsport for the BJP.
Modi’s steps to win tribal hearts after 2019
PM Narendra Modi, after the BJP faced defeat in the 2019 assembly elections, took several steps to bring the tribals on board. He roped in the party’s old-timer Babulal Marandi to lead the saffron camp in Jharkhand. He launched a mega-development programme for tribals, particularly primitive tribes from Jharkhand. The government declared tribal icon Birsa Munda’s birth anniversary as ‘Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas’ but all of them could not convince the tribals, who primarily wanted a guarantee to save their land and forest.
Modi was also the first prime minister to visit Birsa Munda’s birthplace Ulihatu in Khnuti.
The beneficiaries of PM Modi’s welfare schemes were there, but the schemes launched by Hemant Soren endeared them to the JMM this time.
Kalpana emerges heir to Shibu Soren’s political legacy
“And last, the JMM leaders, particularly Kalpana Soren, were able to convince the tribal voters that Hemant Soren was arrested because he did not bow to the BJP government’s diktat, and not that he was involved in any land scam,” said a pollster.
Kalpana emerged to be an astute politician amidst the leadership crisis in the JMM after the ED arrested Hemant Soren in the alleged land scam. “Tribal voters voted for the JMM-Congress not only out of sympathy for her but also they reposed trust in her innate ability,” he added.
The defeat of her sister-in-law Sita Soren in Dumka on the BJP ticket is enough to demonstrate that Kalpana Soren has proved to be the real claimant to JMM chief Shibu Soren’s political legacy. Sita is said to have neither got whole-hearted support from the JMM cadres nor the BJP grassroots workers in Dumka. She felt alone in this election.
No wonder, there was said to be a swing of around five per cent tribal votes in favour of the JMM-Congress in this election compared to the 2019 parliamentary elections.
And, this swing of tribal votes should be an alarm bell for the BJP which will face the Assembly elections after five months against the JMM-Congress combine which fought this Lok Sabha election with full unity.
