SUMAN K SHRIVASTAVA
Ranchi, Nov 23: Belying all speculations, Chief Minister Hemant Soren, riding high on his better half Kalpana Soren’s popularity and welfare schemes, today beat the BJP with its best ever performance in Jharkhand.
It was leading in 33 seats far ahead of the BJP with 21 seats. The Congress was also on its ways to repeat its 2019 performance till 2.45 pm.
The BJP deployed master strategists like Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, and also plugged all the loopholes which had led to ouster of the Raghubar Das government in 2019 failed to regain the trust of the people, particularly tribals in Jharkhand.
Roti-mati-beti slogan fails
The saffron brigade miserably failed to endear itself with the voters with its ‘roti-mati-beti’ slogan, implying that the issue of Bangladeshi infiltration did not resonate with the voters across the State.
Women, who voted enthusiastically in the election, trusted the Maiyaan Samman Yojana more than the BJP’s promise of ‘Gogo Didi Yojana.
Kalpana proves her mettle
Kalpana Soren also proved that the crowd which cheered her enthusiastically at every election meeting really trusted her for a better future.
जीत अभी और प्रचंड होगी। pic.twitter.com/mk3Ie2ARui
— Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (@JmmJharkhand) November 23, 2024
Congress-RJD performance
Quite unexpectedly, the Congress and the RJD also performed well. It clinched all those seats which had mainly rural vote base.
“The credit for it goes solely to the JMM. These are all Hemant Soren’s victory. Had the JMM contested more seats, its performance would have been better,” said a political watcher.
The result has demonstrated that the JMM has not remained merely a tribal-centric party, which used to get 20-22 seats before 2019. It has gone beyond tribal vote-bank and ensured victories where the non-tribals used to ensured victgory for the BJP or its ally AJSU.
Also Read- Amit Shah congratulates Shinde, Fadnavis, Ajit Pawar as Mahayuti poised for grand win in Maharashtra
Jairam Mahto
Jairam Mahto’s Jharkhand Loktantrik Krantikari Morcha (JLKM) also failed to get any seat, though it damaged Sudesh Mahto’s AJSU party, which contested 10 seats, no end, bringing down the NDA tally. Both the parties claimed to get the support of Kurmi voters.
Why Jharkhand rejected BJP?
Question is why Jharkhand rejected the BJP and despite the BJP making a frantic effort with comments like, “batenge toh katenge’ , Ek hain to safe hain, roti-mati-beti and Ghuspaithiye (Bangladeshi infiltratio). Polarisation did not work for the BJP in Jharkhand.
In a way, the BJP could not come out of the shadow of its defeat in 2019 asssembly elections.
One factor which was obvious that if Narendra Modi is not a direct factor in an election, the BJP has struggled. It was evident in Jharkhand in 2019 too.
Voters have made distinction between a Lok Sabha election and an assembly election. They know despite PM Modi’s assertion of double-engine growth model with him at the Centre and a BJP government in the state, it is a local leader who will have his/her say in governing them. They understand how India federalism works notwithstanding what experts say about Indian voters.
Only five months ago, Jharkhand had given a favourable mandate to Narendra Modi in the Lok Sabha election with nine of 14 seats. The BJP was ahead in 51 assembly constituencies.
But in the Jharkhand Assembly election, people definitely judged the BJP as a party. Also, the party was silent on its chief ministertial candidate. The leaders, who were speculated to lead the state failed in popular mandate in Jharkhand compared to present incombent Hemant Soren.
No chief ministerial candidate
The BJP did not project any leader as its chief ministerial face as a strategy. “Whoever is projected as a CM, his detractors work had to ensure his/her defeat,” Himanta once quipped.
In fact, the local leaders were completely sidelined. Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Himanta Biswa Sarma, who were election in-charge and co-incharge, always hogged the limelight drawing criticism from the JMM, which often mocked that the they (Himnta and Shivraj) are the real ‘ghuspaithiyas’ (Infilttrators), who have thrown out the local BJP leaders in Jharkhand.
Also Read- Jharkhand Polls: Deepika Pandey, Mithilesh Thakur and Raja Peter trail in their seats
Tribal Apathy
Jharkhand was created as a tribal state in 2000 after a very long agitation by leaders like Shibu Soren.
Though tribal vote share is less than one-third, Jharkhand emotionally remains a tribal state, where the image of the BJP government led by Raghubar Das government became of one government that is anti-tribal in nature. Though Raghubar Das is out of political scene, the tribal apathy towards the BJP more or less still continues in the political landscape of Jharkhand.
BJP no longer ‘different’
There was a time when the BJP claimed it was the “party with a difference”. This claim gave people impression that the BJP would adopt no-nonsensical approach towards corruption and parivarwad for political gains. However, the BJP gave tickets to kin of several senior party leaders which blunted its attack on the Soren family.
The counting of votes is still in progress but trends suggest that the JMM-led alliance is set to sweep the elections and ensure that the BJP remains out of power for next five years more.
