The BJP has entered the elections fray in Jharkhand with all its well known characteristics. It is woing leaders from other parties, drumming up communal frenzy with it's public face in Hemanta Biswa Sharma. The mainstream media is going gaga over the BJP's slogans. The issues of Bangladeshi infiltration and ex-CM Champai Soren and Lobin Hebram switching over to BJP have been used to relegate other pressing issues of Jharkhand to the background. The alliance government of Hemant Soren is trying to score over BJP with its welfare schemes- Maiya Samman and Aabua Aawas schemes. These schemes have attracted a large population of beneficiaries, but will these be effective enough in countering the well planned tactics of the BJP? A joint initiative of rights organisations active in Jharkhand under the banner of 'Save Democracy' platform has appealed to the people to thwart the formation of a BJP's double bulldozer government. Simultaneous, it has appealed to the Hemant government to fulfill its promises made to the people of the state. It has questioned BJP's silence on the issue of Khatian (land records) based domicile policy and reservation of 27% for the backward communities.
According to cultural activist and journalist Surendra Soren, the BJP-AJSU alliance and the JMM alliance will each may get around 20-25 seats and the challenge will be to win another 5-10 seats to gain majority. BJP is focusing on seats reserved for STs. The shifting of Champai and Loben has given some advantage to BJP on at least two seats. In the last Lok Sabha elections BJP had lost in all ST reserved seats and suffered a decline in its vote share in others. Senior journalist Faisal Anurag feels that the Hemant government will face a challenge to counter anti-incumbency against his office. His twin schemes of Maiya Samman and Aabua Aawas can garner him an additional 1 to 2% votes but the need is to pull 6-7% more votes. This will be possible only if Hemant is successful in cornering the Modi government on issues that are of prime concern for the people of Jharkhand.
BJP is opposing the formation of Sarna code for Adivasis as well as the caste census. The Modi government is even delaying the population census in the country. Now the BJP is raising the bogey of a demographic change on the false pretext of infiltration of Bangladeshi migrants in Santhal pargana. The Jharkhand High Court has criticised the central government for not submitting an affidavit during hearing on a matter related to infiltration. The government is not bringing forth the actual data, while the BJP is trying to misguide the electorate through false and concocted claims. The Modi government has been found wanting on this score, although few offcials have refuted such claims in no uncertain terms and now they are being intimidated by some BJP leaders. The bogey of so called infiltration is clearly aimed at buiding up more communal frenzy to polarise voters.
After the formation of Jharkhand, large captive coal mines in Santhal pargana region were auctioned to big corporates. During the double-engine government of Raghubar Das, the Santhal Pargana Land Tenancy Act was made ineffective and a large area was handed over to Adani, where he commands exclusive rights over water, coal and land. Large scale land aquisition and displacement is going on to serve big capitalists in mining in this region. The very existence of Adivasis in the region has become precarious, which the BJP is trying to hide behind its communal rhetoric.
The biggest issue in the elections is unemployment. CPIML legislator Vinod Singh points to the recent death of 11 aspirants during a physical test in the Excise Department’s recruitment. About 600 aspirants had to be hospitalised in this examination. A large-scale migration from the state is a reflection of the severe unemployment crisis in the state. News of injury or death while working in other states of youth from districts like Hazaribagh, Giridih and Bokaro, continues to pour in every week. The issue of unemployment is gaining momentum. The BJP occasionally exposes the promise of 5 lac annual job creation made by JMM while its own promise of 2 crore jobs annually remains unfulfilled. The moot question is - why has industrialization, mining, increasing private investment and exploitation of the natural resources of Jharkhand not resulted in a commensurate increase in job opportunities? Modi's biggest lie is about job creation and all opposition parties must strive to give this issue the required traction?
Journalist Surendra Lal Soren is not quite happy with the attitude of Hemant Soren government when it comes to highlighting people's issues. Before 2019, he was vocal on the issues of domicile policy, unemployment, displacement and Jharkhandi identity. Though he is demanding the state’s share and payment of unpaid dues of Jharkhand from the centre, he is silent on other issues. The rise of Jayram Mahto and his party on issues of language, khatiyan and employment has caught the attention, and he may have an impact on the forthcoming elections, particularly in North Chota Nagpur region.
The JBKSS (now JLKM) has a profound impact on people belonging to the Kurmi caste. Whether they will damage the BJP or the present ruling dispensation in the elections is still unclear. However, they have lately been silent on issues that they once espoused. They had been training their guns on the Hemant Soren government on these issues. Their silence on the Modi government casts a shadow on their integrity on their agenda of Jharkhandi identify. Three tigers are famous in Jharkhand. The first is BJP MLA Dhullu Mahato, a coal mafia infamous for his criminal activities. The second tiger is Champai Soren who has very easily learnt to speak the language of RSS. The third is Jairam Mahato, about whom it is being debated in the political circles that he too may join the BJP circus at an opportune time.
Although the media is projecting BJP as a player in a winning situation, Faizal Anurag opines that sooner or later, the pressing issues of Jharkhand will take centre stage with the various political and social forces taking an effective stance against the BJP. The merger of MCC and CPIML will be crucial, particularly in the North Chota Nagpur region. These parties have a decisive political presence in 5 to 6 seats besides being effective in influencing the outcome in another half a dozen seats. Faizal Anurag says that Com A K Roy had successfully spearheaded the integration of the aspirations of the original inhabitants, moolwasis, and the labour movement into the Jharkhand movement. In a changed scenario, this experience needs to be further enriched. The merger of these two parties becomes crucial at this juncture. Anand Mahato, President of MCC and ex-MLA says that the merger of MCC and CPIML gives strength to the ideals and legacy of Com. A K Roy and fulfills the need of the hour. CPIML legislator Vinod Singh views this merger as the consolidation of anti-fascist forces in North Chota Nagpur that has unsettled the BJP in Jharkhand.
Dipankar Bhattacharya, the general secretary of the CPIML has underscored the possibility of a deep impact that this merger will have on the politics of Jharkhand. The unity of the working people, cemented by the merger, will boost up the ongoing struggle against the RSS led corporate-fascist experiment to turn Jharkhand into their laboratory. Recalling the stellar role played by Com A K Roy in leading the struggle of workers for nationalization of coal, Com Dipankar said that the Modi government is reversing the policy of nationalization and handing over the minerals, services, industry and natural resources to crony capitalists. Strengthening the legacy of Com. Roy is tantamount to building a powerful and broad-based workers' movement against privatization in the present situation.
The 2019 Assembly elections had witnessed sharp lines of demarcation drawn against the BJP by the Adivasis and the indigenous inhabitants, scheme workers and youth. The BJP had to face a decisive defeat. However, it did not apologize before the electorate for causing malnutrition, corporate takeover, violation of 5th schedule, weakening of CNT-SPT amongst others. Have the lines of demarcation faded over the years?
Congress Dipankar Bhattacharya is of the opinion that the Jharkhand elections are not merely limited to changing the balance on a few seats. Jharkhand is a mineral rich state and after the electoral victories in Chhattisgarh and Orissa, the BJP is now eyeing Jharkhand to complete its 'Adani triangle'. There is struggle against the BJP for each and every seat. If during the last elections, the people's movements played a role in deciding the outcome of the results, this time the elections will have to be transformed into a movement against fascism. This election will have to be converted into a campaign against the ulterior motive of BJP to dilute the aspirations of the working people and the regional sentiment of the Jharkhandi people. The India alliance should accept it as a fight to be fought on the streets as well as secured in every constituency in an unified manner.
Like the lok sabha elections, the Assembly elections will be contested on an uneven playing field. With its money bag and a subservient Election Commission, BJP is accustomed to spreading political corruption at every level. But the burning questions of the masses are its Achilles heel. If the masses are mobilised actively on these issues, neither the communal machinations of Himanta and Shivraj nor the horse trading of leaders will prove effective. The INDIA alliance will have to work for a militant mobilization of the masses as well as unity among its constituents. The BJP would like to trick the elections into an 'issueless' one and confuse the opposition. Only time will tell whether the alliance will be successful in punishing the Modi government for its decade long injustice to Jharkhand in the people's court.
