Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to address his fourth election rally in Jharkhand on May 15 at Deoghar’s College Ground as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) gears up for a faceoff with Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) in the latter’s bastion, Santhal Pargana.
“Modiji will land at the Birsa Munda Airport in Ranchi on May 15 and take a chopper to Deoghar. He will address the people of Deoghar at 12pm,” said Pradeep Sinha, a member of the BJP’s media cell in Ranchi.
The fourth and final phase of General Elections in Jharkhand, in which Dumka, Rajmahal and Godda will go to polls on May 19, is likely to be a litmus test for the BJP. Despite the overwhelming Modi wave of 2014, which swept the entire country, the BJP lost to the JMM in two of three constituencies in Santhal Pargana. The BJP won 12 of 14 Lok Sabha seats here, the highest ever by one political party, but could not defeat JMM Supremo Shibu Soren in Dumka and Vijay Hansdak in Rajmahal despite fielding a JMM turncoat Hemlal Murmu against Hansda.
The BJP is expecting Modi’s rally, scheduled days before the polling, will help the party garner support of the largely tribal voters of Santhal Pargana, party insiders said. In the ongoing election season, Modi has addressed rallies in Lohardaga, Singbhum and Giridih. He also attended a road show in Ranchi.
“Last time, we lost Dumka and Rajmahal by a whisker. Santhal Pargana was cut off from the rest of the State for a long time. The BJP started development works in the region and it will reflect in the polls,” said BJP spokesperson Pratul Shahdeo.
In his term as the Prime Minister, Modi paid at least eight official visits to Jharkhand since the landslide victory in 2014 Lok Sabha polls. The party here claims that no other Prime Minister has paid as many visits to Jharkhand in single tenure. During his last official visit to Jharkhand as the Prime Minister of India, Modi inaugurated three medical colleges in Hazaribag, Daltonganj and Dumka.
This election, BJP’s Sunil Soreng is taking on JMM’s veteran leader Shibu Soren in Dumka, while BJP’s Hemlal Murmu is set to challenge JMM leader Vijay Hansdak’s incumbency. On the other hand, in Godda, BJP’s incumbent parliamentarian Nishikant Dubey will have a faceoff against Jharkhand Vikas Morcha-Prajatantrik’s Pradeep Yadav, who happens to be a former minister and is representing the ‘Mahagathbandhan’.