Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren has weaved a stunning turnaround for the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM)-led alliance in the Assembly elections after being facing arrest earlier this year by the ED in a money laundering case.
INDI alliance to forming a government
While exit polls did not predict an outright win for the JMM led INDI alliance is on the way to forming a government for a third term, with the alliance leading in nearly 50 seats. The halfway mark to form government is 42. On the other hand, BJP-led NDA is ahead in 30 seats.
All the key regions of Jharkhand — Chota Nagpur, Kolhan, Koylanchal, Palamu, and Santhal Pargana showed JMM-Congress alliance leading ahead.
Past results for JMM and others in Jharkhand
In the 2019 Jharkhand Assembly election, the JMM-Congress-Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) alliance had won 47 seats. The JMM had won 30 seats increasing its numbers from 19 in 2014. The BJP bag won only 25 of the 81 seats in 2019.
BJP, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, during the election campaign for Jharkhand elections invoked issues like illegal immigration from Bangladesh to attack the JMM government. The BJP throughout the campaign in poll rallies focused on Jharkhand’s ‘maati, beti and roti’ (land, daughter and bread) were in danger as “infiltrators” were grabbing the jal, zameen and jungle from the tribal population of the state.
JMM campaign Vs INDI campaign in Jharkhand
JMM on the other hand set its campaign on welfare schemes, especially the Mukhyamantri Maiya Samman Yojana, and the narrative of tribal pride.
Analysts believe that the JMM victory is likely to have been fuelled by a huge support by women voters. During the two-phase election, 68 out of the 81 seats recorded a higher women turnout, as per ECI numbers.
Leading up to elections, Hemant Soren was arrested, and the party witnessed a flurry of defections, which included his sister-in-law Sita Soren to the BJP.
Did Soren’s arrest help JMM?
Soren even resigned as the Chief Minister few days before his arrest on January 31 by the ED in a money laundering case. To run the state, the party chose Senior leader Champai Soren. However, after getting the bail from the High Court Hemant was again sworn in as Chief Minister for a third time.
This led to Champai Soren eventually switching over to the BJP. BJP used the issue as a major poll issue, focusing o how a tribal leader was insulted by the JMM.
JMM on the other hand made this election asHemant Soren vs BJP fight. This helped the party to gain the sympathy factor following his arrest.
