Prime Minister Narendra Modi with former Jharkhand Chief Minister Champai Soren
Credit: PTI Photo
The BJP’s Central Election Committee (CEC) in its first list of candidates for Jharkhand had named former chief minister and former Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader Champai Soren a ticket from Seraikela in the run-up to the Jharkhand Assembly Elections 2024.
Soren, who has won from the seat since 1991, will be facing a leader fronted by his former party, JMM, and its coalition partner, Congress, in the upcoming elections.
In addition to a 'nearly in the bag' win, BJP had several reasons to court Champai Soren (successfully) after his self-claimed 'humiliating' step-down from the CM post after just 153 days in power on July 4, effectively serving as a 'seat warmer' for Hemant Soren.
Chief among those reasons is the shine of a tribal 'insider' who has an in-depth understanding of both the state of Jharkhand and JMM's inner circle. Champai has spent years shadowing Hemant and earlier, Hemant’s father Shibu Soren. The inside perspective is especially important with Hemant Soren's campaign narrative centering around BJP and its allies as 'outsiders' come to sow discord, strife and disseminate a poisonous and divisive ideology in the state.
In Champai, who was enough of an 'insider' to be elected the CM during Hemant's incarceration, BJP has found a perfect mouthpiece for its current campaign push against alleged "Bangladeshi infiltrators" in the state — enough in number apparently to pose a threat to tribals in terms of a significant demographic vote bank.
In Jharkhand, born of a tribal identity separate from Bihar, this issue has understandably caught the attention of the state's electorate.
But Champai has his uses even beyond the state's politics. He is also someone who can call out Congress on its past apathy to tribal population in the state, amplified by the national platform thanks to the NDA alliance.
Champai Soren has slammed the Congress repeatedly since his defection to BJP, saying the grand old party has never worked for the welfare of tribals, has repeatedly betrayed them and crushed their protests, even using bullets during the Jharkhand agitation.
He also repeatedly references his 'talks' with PM Narendra Modi on the 'Bangladeshi infiltration' problem.
"I have told him about the situation of Jharkhand and about Santhal Pargana region where Bangladeshi infiltration has increased a lot. Houses of villagers are being removed and infiltrators are getting settled. The current Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) government will do nothing to stop the infiltration and people know it," the former Chief Minister said in one TV interview. "I have informed the Prime Minister about Jharkhand's history, its geography and we need to do something or else tribals will vanish from here," he added.
Champai Soren's defection to the BJP in August has provided enough time to both support BJP's ambitions in the state as well as its larger plan to discredit Congress' campaign as the 'nyay' party that will give tribals and Dalits their rights.
The BJP is contesting 68 of the 81 assembly seats in the state, leaving the rest for its allies.
Jharkhand was set to vote in two phases, one of which concluded on November 13, and another is due on 20. The counting of votes will be held on November 23.
Assembly Elections 2024 | The Maharashtra Assembly polls will take place against the backdrop of a fractured political landscape in the western state where the Shiv Sena and NCP will be going up against the Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar factions, even as the BJP and Congress try to make their mark. Meanwhile, in Jharkhand, the JMM faces a new challenge after Hemant Soren's recent arrest and Champai, a longstanding party member, joining the BJP. The Haryana election resulted in a shock loss for Congress, which was looking to galvanize on the Lok Sabha poll performance, while J&K also saw the grand old party eventually stepping away from the cabinet, with Omar Abdullah's JKNC forming government. It remains to be seen if the upcoming polls help BJP cement its position further or provide a fillip to I.N.D.I.A. Check live updates and track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.
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