In contrast to its Maharashtra miracle, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) faced a huge setback in Jharkhand with the INDIA Bloc coming back with a resounding victory in the Assembly polls, results of which were announced on Saturday.
The INDIA Bloc led by the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) in Jharkhand registered victory in 56 constituencies. The JMM won 34 seats, four more than its 2019 polls tally, while the Congress managed to win 16 seats in the 81 member Assembly.
The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist), two other members of the coalition, also performed well by clinching four and two seats respectively. Both the parties had won just one seat in the 2019 Assembly polls. On the other hand, the BJP could barely secure 21 seats, which are four less than that of its 2019 performance. The NDA’s major partner All Jharkhand Students Union Party (AJSU), which contested on 10 seats, could only win one. AJSU Party president Sudesh Mahto was also defeated from his traditional seat Silli.
Two other partners of NDA, Janata Dal (United), and Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), won one seat each making the NDA reach a tally of 24. Jharkhand Krantikari Lok Morcha (JKLM), a new political party formed by youth leader Jairam Mahto, won only one seat, but it made a significant dent into the traditional vote bank of both BJP and AJSU party, said political experts.
Chief Minister Hemant Soren’s wife, and MLA, Kalpana Murmu Soren, and his brother and MLA Basant Soren won their seats from Gandey and Dumka respectively, while his sister in law Sita Murmu Soren, who contested on a BJP ticket from Jamtara had to face defeat.
State BJP president Babulal Marandi retained his seat, while former CM Champai Soren also won from Saraikela. However, former CM Arjun Munda’s wife Meera Munda and former CM Madhu Koda’s wife Geeta Koda had to face defeat in the polls.
Another former CM and incumbent Governor of Odisha Raghubar Das’ daughter in law Poornima Sahu Das managed to win from Jamshedpur East constituency.
Addressing a press conference at his residence Hemant Soren credited the victory of INDIA Bloc to the people of Jharkhand. Soren posted a video on ‘X’ with a caption “Jharkhand has won”. He thanked the people of Jharkhand for believing in the alliance once again and promised to fulfil their aspirations.
“You have played a crucial role in fortifying democracy. I extend my heartfelt thanks to everyone who participated in this electoral process and those who worked tirelessly to bring the essence of democracy to the people,” he said.
He further remarked, “A new chapter in the history of ‘Abua Raj, Abua Sarkar’ is being written in Jharkhand. This election is unlike any you have witnessed before. We have successfully upheld the principles of democracy. I extend my sincere gratitude to each one of you.”
The BJP’s state president Babulal Marandi congratulated Hemant Soren and his party on social media for his win. He said that this election result was unexpected for BJP, but in democracy the decision of the people is paramount. “We respect the mandate. BJP will thoroughly review these results,” he added.
Political experts credited the conclusive win of INDIA block in Jharkhand to the recently launched “Maiyan Samman Yojna” by the Hemant Soren led government in the State, through which four instalments of Rs 1000 were given as honorarium to more than 45 lakh women of Jharkhand.
Also, they said that the ‘Bangladeshi infiltration’ rhetoric launched by the BJP to woo party’s traditional voters miserably failed in the tribal belts that still long for tribal identity and basic amenities.
Notably, this is for the first time in the history of 24 years of formation of Jharkhand that any coalition or a party has secured 56 seats to run the government comfortably for a full term.
