NEW DELHI: The BJP, which had relied heavily on Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to lead its Jharkhand campaign, has been decimated in the state. Chief minister Hemant Soren has led his party Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) to its best-ever performance in the state. JMM-led ruling INDIA bloc has crossed the two-third majority mark in the 81-member assembly.
The Jharkhand verdict is an outright rejection of Himanta Biswa Sarma’s Bangladeshi infiltration pitch, which was the central theme of the BJP campaign in the state.
Assembly Election Results
Sarma, who spearheaded the BJP campaign from the day he was appointed Jharkhand’s co-incharge along with Shivraj Singh Chouhan, set the tone for appeasement attack against the Soren government by highlighting how Bangladeshi infiltrators were becoming a threat to the tribals in the state.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah, party chief J P Nadda, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath and all senior leaders of the BJP harped on the issue of infiltration in their speeches turning the party’s campaign into a literal carpet bombing on the issue against the JMM-led INDIA bloc government. Madhya Pradesh chief minister Mohan Yadav even accused the ruling JMM-led coalition of converting Jharkhand capital Ranchi into Pakistani city Karachi, alleging that Hindus are being subjected to atrocities in the state. But as the verdict shows, the people of the state did not buy this narrative.
Prime Minister Modi in one of his rallies said: “I have been travelling around Jharkhand and I have noticed that the biggest worry here has been about the Bangladeshi infiltrators. As per whatever data has been available, we have learnt that the tribal population in Santhal has now reduced to half. We have to protect our tribal families and Jharkandi from this and that should be our first priority.”
Union home minister Amit Shah hinted at bringing a legislation to prevent land being transferred to infiltrators. “Tribal population is declining in Jharkhand. Infiltrators are grabbing land by marrying our daughters. We will bring legislation to prevent transfer of land to infiltrators if they marry tribal women. We will also form a committee to identify infiltrators to drive them out and reclaim land grabbed by them,” Shah said addressing a rally.
Chief minister Hemant Soren avoided a direct confrontation on the issue and instead accused the BJP of running a polarising campaign on religious lines. He hit out at the saffron camp, alleging that the opposition party spent over Rs 500 crore on “malicious campaigns” against him.
Targeting BJP’s election pitch in Jharkhand, Congress leader Pawan Khera said, “In Jharkhand, the RSS and the BJP tried to make a laboratory in tribal areas. Himanta Biswa Sarma became their poster boy. The poster boy left no stone unturned there but the people of Jharkhand completely rejected this kind of politics and again made a working government win with a good majority.”
Hemant Soren focused on populist schemes like Maiyan Samman Yojna, which provides financial assistance of Rs 1,000 to women in the 18-50 years age bracket and promised to increase the amount to Rs 2,500 post results. The state government also waived farm loans up to Rs 2 lakh aimed at benefiting over 1.75 lakh farmers. Soren waived outstanding electricity bills, promised a scheme providing free electricity up to 200 units besides introducing welfare schemes like universal pension.
The BJP ‘s bid to rope in former chief minister and senior JMM leader Champai Soren also failed to make any impact. While Champai won the election, his son Babulal Soren, who got the BJP ticket as per the terms of switch-over deal, was defeated by the JMM candidate. Ironically, BJP did not project any CM face in the state despite having four former chief ministers in its ranks. None of them were at the forefront of the BJP’s campaign in Jharkhand.
The Jharkhand Loktantrik Krantikari Morcha (JLKM) of Jairam Mahato too played a spoilsport seizing a sizeable chunk of votes harming the NDA on several seats. Mahto himself won the election from the Dumri assembly seat.
