BJP begins preparation for Jharkhand assembly polls
The BJP leaders have underscored the need to redraw the party’s outreach towards the tribal communities as well as Other Backward Classes and other caste groups in urban constituencies in Jharkhand
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has drawn a two-pronged strategy of sharpening its outreach in the tribal community by raising issues of local relevance and retaining support of the urban electorate by highlighting the deficiencies of the state government in Jharkhand, where elections for the 81-member assembly are due later this year.
According to a BJP functionary, the opposition party in the eastern state will focus its campaign on the alleged corruption by chief minister Hemant Soren, who was released on June 28, six months after he was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case.
“There are several issues that will drive our election campaign in the state, but the focus will be on the poor governance record of the state government and the corruption by chief minister Hemant Soren,” the functionary said, declining to be named.
The functionary added that the BJP will also focus on 28 of the 91 constituencies reserved for Scheduled Tribes (STs). As per the 2011 census, 34.6% of the state’s electorate belong to ST communities, which hold the key to swinging the poll outcome.
The BJP’s performance in both the 2019 assembly elections and this year’s Lok Sabha polls has been attributed largely to the apathy from tribal communities.
In 2019, the BJP lost the assembly elections, with its tally shrinking from 37 to 25 in the 81-member assembly. The JMM, led by Soren, formed the government after winning 30 seats and getting support from the Congress that won 16 seats and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) that won a single seat.
In this year’s Lok Sabha elections, the party’s tally came down from 11 in 2019 to eight. The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) won three, Congress two and the AJSU won a single seat.
Ahead of the assembly elections later this year, there is concern over the loss of support from tribal communities that has been exacerbated by the Opposition’s relentless campaign to characterise the BJP as anti-Scheduled Caste (SC) and ST and against caste-based reservations, the functionary quoted above said.
“Of the 47 seats (across 16 states) that are reserved for STs, BJP won 25 (in the Lok Sabha polls). This was less than 2019, when the party bagged 31. Here in Jharkhand, the loss was more severe, as the party did not win a single ST seat of the five. This (result) was because of the Opposition’s fake narrative that the BJP would end reservation,” the functionary said.
In recent meetings with Union minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who have been appointed as election in-charges of Jharkhand, state leaders underscored the need to redraw the party’s outreach towards the tribal communities as well as Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and other caste groups in urban constituencies.
“There is a section of leaders within the party who feel that JMM’s allegation that the Union government victimised Soren, a tribal chief minister, has resonance among the communities on the ground. The issue of ‘tribal pride’ being hurt by his arrest is gaining strength even though his track record of governance is poor. Therefore, it is imperative to shine light on his deficiencies such as the failure to provide jobs and flag issues that concern the people,” a second functionary said, also seeking anonymity.
To counter the JMM’s allegation that Soren was a victim of political vendetta, the BJP has drawn attention to the problems being faced by ST communities, particularly women and youngsters.
“Issues such as land acquisition in tribal areas through stealth and illegal settlement of people from Bangladesh have become a huge worry in the Santhal Pargana region,” the second functionary said.
The BJP leaders are buoyed by the recent Jharkhand high court order directing the state government to identify infiltrators from Bangladesh and prepare an action plan to deport them.
For retaining support in urban areas, BJP leaders want the Union government to announce state-specific schemes and sops for food security, higher remuneration for crops and enhanced outlay for health, housing and other amenities, as was announced in Chhattisgarh last year when the BJP managed to oust the Congress government from power during the assembly elections.
“There is anger on the ground because the chief minister had promised five lakh government jobs, which have not been provided. There was no development nor any economic measures for the youth…,” the second functionary said.
The other important issue that will need to be resolved in the coming weeks is the question of firming up alliances. There is a section of leaders who feel that the party will benefit from a pre-poll tie-up with the All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU).
The BJP and the AJSU have been allies on and off, including in 2014, when the BJP won 37 seats and the AJSU won five.
The state BJP is also aware that the question of leadership will surface and dominate electioneering, the second functionary said.
The 2019 defeat was to a large extent attributed to the absence of a tribal face as then chief minister Raghubar Das was not seen as a pan-state leader. With the appointment of tribal leader Babulal Marandi as state BJP chief, the party is hopeful of overcoming the allegation that it does not have a tribal representative at the high table.