Hemant Soren vindicated, holds on to tribal votes, carries INDIA past majority BJP fails to cash in on anti-incumbency, especially over joblessness, even as JMM’s handling of BJP’s “infiltration” charges takes a sting out of the His prediction came true in Jharkhand Saturday, with the Champai Soren’s victory in Saraikela. BJP tribal leader Babulal Marandi too won, but he contested from a general With 200-plus rallies, the husband-wife duo of Hemant Soren and Kalpana Soren led the JMM campaign, asking for votes for their welfare schemes: Maiyya Samman allegations, and carrying the bulk of the burden of the exams, for example, but the BJP failed to cash in on that.
A senior BJP leader said: “We should have made jobs a major issue in Jharkhand. Instead, the plank of polarisation took centrestage, and it did not resonate with Another highly placed source in the BJP said the party did not handle Champai well either. “A TV channel owner who arranged a meeting of Champai Soren with Himanta Biswa Sarma (the BJP’s Jharkhand co-in-charge) promised the CM seat to Champai if the BJP won.
But later, Champai was not clear about his role… When Himanta finally got Champai into confidence, it was after conceding a ticket to his son, who is also trailing now,” the source said. Apart from Champai, sources said, the BJP CM hopefuls included Leader of the Opposition Amar Kumar Bauri. “He didn’t even contest as an MLA, and ended up losing.” Bauri, in fact, finished third in his seat Chandankiyari, after the JMM and the new Jharkhand Loktantrik Krantikari Coming to the Soren government’s schemes, its Maiyya a result, both AJSU strongholds Gomia and Silli were won by the JMM.
AJSU Party chief Sudesh Mahato was among those who lost. The results also establish Hemant as the undisputed face of the INDIA bloc in the state, with the Congress barely registering during the campaign. If its tally of 16 is the same as 2019, it was largely the result of the JMM shoring Read | Congress shell shocked: Decimated in Maharashtra, party is a weak link in Jharkhand Unlike Hemant and Kalpana’s rally blitz, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi addressed six public meetings each.
Acknowledging “Hemant’s credibility” and “the confidence of the tribals in him”, a senior BJP leader said: “The party’s move to make a tribal the CM in neighbouring Odisha and Chhattisgarh states after recent election voters failed to convince the voters.” In contrast, the tribal community appreciated that Hemant put the legacy of his father and former chief minister Shibu Soren, who is held in high regard because of his contribution towards the creation of Jharkhand, front and centre in the JMM campaign.
Other community groups in Jharkhand, including Muslims and a section of the over 40% backwards in the state, also appear to have backed the JMM. The INDIA bloc led in all the key regions of the state – Chota Nagpur, Kolhan, Koylanchal, Palamu and Santhal Pargana. As a BJP leader put it, “Soren managed to get even nontribals.” With inputs from Liz Mathew, Lalmani Verma, New Delhi