Rebels’ Johar in Jharkhand Rings New Age Politics
A JMM Election rally in Petarwar block in Jharkhand. Image credit X.com @KumarJaiMangal
Rebels Rise Against Politics of Nepotism in Jharkhand Elections
By Manish Anand
New Delhi, November 13: Polling is underway in 43 Assembly constituencies in the first phase of the elections in Jharkhand on Wednesday. The regions under polling in the first phase conventionally decide the winner in Jharkhand.
Unlike Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand Assembly elections are mostly bipolar. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is aiming to wrest power in Ranchi.
The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM)-led Indian National Developmental and Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) seeks to retain power in the state. The two political alliances mostly are pitched against each other on most of the 81 Assembly seats in Jharkhand.
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On the ground, the picture is little different. Rebels are carrying banners of revolt against their respective political parties. A new crop of rebels has risen against the politics of nepotism in Jharkhand.
As many as 40 candidates are in fray in Jharkhand with links to former and incumbent ministers or chief ministers from the constituents of the two political alliances. The mainstream political parties have mostly been benign to the politics of nepotism.
Long-term workers of party leaders in the two alliances saw their hopes fading with big leaders fielding their wives and children in the elections in Jharkhand. Take for instance, Shiv Shankar Singh in the Jharkhand East Assembly seat.
Singh has the pedigree of the Rashtriya Swayam Sewak Sangh (RSS). He is a long-term BJP worker. For over two decades, the constituency was held by former Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das. Now, the BJP fielded Das’s daughter-in-law Purnima Das Sahu. Singh rebelled as his hard work of past two decades risked squandered in nursing the family fiefdom of Das.
The key regions in the first of the polling are Kolhan, Palamu, and Chota Nagpur. The BJP score chart read zero in Kolhan where the region has as many as 14 Assembly seats.
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Kolhan also boasts of the big guns of the BJP such as Raghubar Das, Arjun Munda, and Champai Soren – all former chief ministers. The region is the industrial hub of Jharkhand with Jamshedpur as the key centre.
The BJP is counting more rebels all through the three regions. Barring a few pockets, the first-phase polling regions are without sizable Muslim population. Thus, the BJP’s aggressive canvassing on the plank of Bangladeshi illegal migrants is making least resonance in the regions per local political observers.
The three regions are also facing economic distress. Palamu, known as Jharkhand’s Bihar, has lower per capita income than the state. It also faces the issues of migration and water scarcity.
Chota Nagpur and Kolhan are facing the closure of small industrial units. The economic distress is the silent issue trending with the people per political observers.
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