Vikrant Shekhawat : Nov 23, 2024, 12:20 PM
Jharkhand Elections 2024: This time the election results in Jharkhand are pointing towards a new political direction. This can be a historic moment for the state as for the first time after 24 years a party seems to be returning to power here in a strong position. According to the trends so far, Hemant Soren's alliance is leading in about 50 out of 81 assembly seats in Jharkhand. The lead margin on many of these seats is more than 10 thousand votes. These figures show that Hemant Soren's alliance seems to be in a strong position. In such a situation, the biggest question is arising that why the BJP could not come to power despite putting in all its strength? In this story, we will analyze this question.1. No CM face:The Bharatiya Janata Party lacked a clear and strong chief ministerial face at the local level in Jharkhand. The BJP had only two names who had the potential to become the Chief Minister: Babu Lal Marandi and Champai Soren. The interesting thing was that both the leaders were turncoats. Champai had joined BJP just before the assembly elections. In contrast, Hemant Soren's popularity was much higher. According to the exit poll of Axis My India, 41 percent of the people liked Hemant Soren as the Chief Minister, while only 7 percent liked Champai and 13 percent liked Babu Lal. This popularity gap created difficulties for the BJP in the electoral field.2. Women's vote bank:Hemant Soren further strengthened his hold among women. He started the Maiya Samman Yojana, under which Rs 1000 was deposited in the bank account of every woman every month. This scheme was directly benefiting women, and the BJP failed to respond effectively to it. Hemant also fielded his wife Kalpana Soren in the electoral fray. Kalpana held about 100 rallies in the election campaign, which attracted a huge crowd of women. This election saw a four percent increase in the percentage of women's votes, which went directly in favor of Hemant Soren.3. Anger of tribals:Hemant Soren raised tribal issues prominently in election rallies. He said that protecting the identity of tribals is most important. Hemant also alleged that, even though his party had an absolute majority, the central government and the governor did not approve many of the proposals made by him. Issues like Khatiyani and reservation were prominent among these. The allegation of BJP and the central government ignoring the tribal class proved to be a big political weapon for Hemant, and he got strong support in tribal areas.4. Breakup of Kudmi voters:Kudmi votebank also proved to be important in this election. Earlier this votebank was with the AJSU party, but this time after the entry of Jairam Mahto, these voters were seen separating from the BJP. BJP's alliance with Sudesh Mahto was also not very beneficial. AJSU party is seen maintaining a lead in only 2-3 seats. Kudmi voters play a decisive role especially in Kolhan and Koyalanchal areas, and this time the direct benefit of these voters moving away from BJP went in favor of Hemant Soren.5. Failure of big leaders:BJP had fielded many prominent leaders in the election fray, but most of the big leaders were seen lagging behind in their seats. Strong leaders Biranchi Narayan from Bokaro, Narayan Das from Deoghar and Amit Mandal from Godda are seen lagging behind. The same was the case with Madhu Koda's wife, who was contesting from Jagannathpur seat. The defeat of these big leaders was a big blow to BJP and it further weakened the political position of the party.Conclusion:In this election contest of Jharkhand, Hemant Soren's alliance capitalized well on women, tribals and local issues under its strategies, while BJP's strategies proved weak. Lack of a chief ministerial face, losing the support of women and tribals, and the defeat of big leaders is a big political setback for BJP. Due to these reasons, BJP was not successful in returning to power in Jharkhand, and the alliance led by Hemant Soren seems to be getting a strong majority.