Jharkhand Election: Path to Power Passes Through Santhal Pargana and Chotanagpur

Hemant is contesting from Barhait, reserved for tribals, in Santhal Pargana, a seat he has won twice in a row.

Babulal Marandi, Hemant Soren, and Kalpana Soren.

(Photo: Kamran Akhter/The Quint)

Voting in Jharkhand's Assembly elections for 38 seats, including in the Santhal Pargana and Chotanagpur regions, will take place on 20 November during the second phase. Winning Santhal Pargana has become a matter of prestige for both the JMM and the BJP.

Chief Minister Hemant Soren is contesting from Barhait, reserved for tribals, in Santhal Pargana, a seat he has previously won twice in a row. The JMM flag has been flying high here since 1990. The BJP has never been able to win Barhait. The BJP's Gamliyel Hembrom is contesting against the CM.

In 2019, Simon Malto contested against Hemant in Barhait. There won't be a rematch this time because Malto recently joined the JMM.

BJP state president and former CM Babulal Marandi is facing JMM and CPI-ML candidates in Dhanwar. Meanwhile, on 16 November, Niranjan Rai, who, by the way, is the second richest candidate in the state, initially contesting as an independent from Dhanwar, joined the BJP. Amit Shah welcomed Rai at an election rally held in the constituency.

On the other hand, JMM MLA and star campaigner Kalpana Soren’s fate is to be decided in Gandey. Kalpana, who won the by-election from Gandey last June, is pitted against the BJP's Muniya Devi. Both these seats, Dhanwar and Gandey, are unreserved and in the North Chotanagpur region.

In the first phase, voting was held for 43 seats on 13 November, including 14 in Kolhan, where the BJP did not open its account in the 2019 elections. During this phase, women outperformed men by casting 3,02,372 more votes. Additionally, around four percent more votes were cast in tribal areas in comparison to 2019.

For the 81-member Assembly, voting has already taken place in 20 out of 28 seats reserved for tribals.

Santhal Pargana

Comprising the six districts of Dumka, Sahibganj, Godda, Jamtara, Pakur and Deogarh, the Santhal Pargana region makes up the eastern and northeastern parts of Jharkhand and shares its border with West Bengal. A large chunk of this region is dominated by the Santhal tribals and Muslims. There is also a significant population of OBCs, SCs, and forward classes as well.

Santhal Pargana has three Lok Sabha seats and 18 Assembly segments, and out of these, seven seats are reserved for tribals, one for scheduled castes, and 10 are unreserved. The BJP won only four seats in 2019, while the JMM-Congress combine won 13.

In the Lok Sabha polls, the JMM won both the ST seats of Dumka and Rajmahal. The JMM is contesting 11 seats, the Congress five, and the RJD two, and within the NDA, the BJP has fielded candidates in 17 seats, and the AJSU in one.

Infiltration has been one of the central planks of the BJP, whose leaders are raising the pitch over the alleged "changing demography" in Santhal Pargana. Several key leaders including PM Modi, Amit Shah, UP CMYogi Adityanath, and Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma have accused the INDIA bloc of pursuing appeasement politics. The BJP has promised to uphold Jharkhandi asmita (identity/pride) by saving the state's Roti Mati and Beti.

JMM leaders have vehemently rejected these allegations and accused the BJP of using divisive politics to ‘grab’ power in the state. Hemant Soren asserted at an election rally in Rajmahal on 16 November, that “these people (BJP leaders) know just to divide and polarise us for votes but perhaps they are not aware of the tribal ethos that keeps community over and above everything.”

JMM slogans in the Santhali language are echoing in tribal-dominated areas, like jail reyak jobab jeet rahea and aak saar do okoya, aabua aabua (answer to jail is voting… whose bow and arrow? ours, ours). Hemant has brought up his five-month incarceration quite frequently while campaigning, presenting himself as the champion of the tribals, the poor, and the Dalits.

Within Santhal Pargana, Assembly Speaker Rabindra Nath Mahato of the JMM in Nala, Congress senior leader and cabinet minister Dr Irfan Ansari in Jamtara, and JMM candidate Hafizul Ansari in Madhupur, are all up for a tough fight against the BJP.

Sita Soren, daughter-in-law of JMM patriarch Shibu Soren, switched to the BJP in March, lost to Nalin Soren in the Dumka parliamentary seat, and is now contesting against Dr Ansari. This election is crucial for her political future and stature. In Dumka, Hemant's younger brother and JMM MLA Basant Soren is pitted against former MP Sunil Soren of the BJP.

The Congress party has fielded Nishat Alam, wife of jailed former minister Alamgir Alam, from Pakur. A four-time Congress MLA and one of the few prominent Muslim faces of the Congress and the INDIA bloc in the state, Alamgir Alam was arrested in a money laundering case by the Enforcement Directorate on 16 May. Here, it will be a tough challenge for AJSU candidate Ajhar Islam.

Chotanagpur

On 20 November, voting is also taking place in 18 seats of North Chotanagpur (seven of the region's 25 already voted during the first phase), including the renowned mining city Dhanbad, known as the coal capital of India.

The BJP has pinned its hopes on the coal belt.

In this region, the BJP is contesting 14 seats and its ally, the AJSU, is contesting four. The JMM has fielded candidates on eight seats, the Congress on six and the CPI-ML on four. In South Chotanagpur, in a high-stakes battle, AJSU chief Sudesh Kumar Mahto is contesting in Silli.

The 52-year-old Marxist Coordination Committee (MCC), based in the coal mining region of Dhanbad, merged with the CPI-ML on 9 September, strengthening the latter. But the combine still faces quite a challenge from the BJP in four seats - Bagodar, Nirsa, Sindri, and Dhanwar.

In Bagodar, the party's MLA Vinod Singh is facing BJP nominee Nagendra Mahato. In Nirsa, the CPI ML's Arup Chatterjee is looking to snatch the seat from BJP MLA Aparna Sengupta.

Then, in Chandankiyari, a seat reserved for Scheduled Castes, Leader of the Opposition Amar Kumar Bauri of the BJP is facing his arch-rival, former minister Umakant Rajak of the JMM.

The electoral battle in North Chotanagpur is witnessing a challenging twist with the participation of a new outfit - the Jharkhand Loktantrik Krantikari Morcha - founded and led by Jairam Kumar Mahto aka Tiger Jairam, belonging to the Kudmi community. He has been wooing the youth on local issues like jobs, domicile policy, and the rights of coal workers.

In its debut Assembly elections, the JLKM has fielded candidates in 71/81 seats. Jairam is contesting simultaneously from both Dumri and Bermo. The JLKM appears to be posing a challenge to the NDA and INDIA candidates in at least ten seats.

In the Lok Sabha polls, contesting as an independent from Giridih, Tiger Jairam finished third (3,47, 322 votes) behind the JMM (runner-up) and the AJSU. He, however, secured more votes than the JMM and AJSU candidates in the Gomia and Dumri assembly segments. In Dumri, JMM minister Baby Devi is facing Jairam and AJSU's Yashoda Devi.

The Kudmi Mahatas (Mahatos) comprise around 15 percent of the population and are an important vote factor in at least a dozen seats in Chotanagpur.

(The author is a senior journalist based in Jharkhand. Views are personal.)