“Father, son, wife, daughter-in-law, everyone will have to face defeat. The INDIA bloc will score on all the seats of Kolhan,” he added.
The BJP denied that there was dynastic politics at work, saying its candidates were selected on their track record.
The BJP’s first list of candidates didn’t just spark criticism from the JMM and Congress, it also led to dissent from within, with some senior BJP leaders switching sides to the JMM weeks before the polls on 13 November and 20 November.
But after drawing a blank in the tribal region in the Lok Sabha, the BJP is pulling out all the stops in Kolhan, which sends 14 MLAs to the 81-member assembly.
It is betting that the influence of the former chief ministers will help it in the Kolhan region which has emerged as the battleground for all parties.
Among the relatives of political leaders in the fray, the two most prominent are Champai Soren’s son, Babulal Soren, and Arjun Munda’s wife, Meera Munda. The BJP has fielded them from two seats reserved for tribals: Ghatshila and Potka. Both are contesting elections for the first time.
Babulal Soren will face JMM MLA Ramdas Soren in Ghatshila while Meera Munda will contest against JMM MLA Sanjeev Sardar in Potka.
Another name in the headlines was Geeta Koda—the wife of former chief minister Madhu Koda—who faced a crushing defeat in the Singhbhum parliamentary constituency this time. She is contesting from the Jagannathpur seat. Both Madhu and Geeta Koda have been MLAs from Jagannathpur twice.
The Congress has fielded its MLA, Sonaram Sinku, against Geeta Koda.
Another high-profile candidate is Purnima Das Sahoo, Odisha Governor Raghubar Das’s daughter-in-law, who the BJP has fielded from the unreserved seat of East Jamshedpur. Raghubar Das lost the seat to independent candidate Saryu Roy in 2019.
His daughter-in-law’s candidature has ended speculation about Raghubar Das’s return to Jharkhand politics for now, but it is believed that the central leadership decided on Sahu’s name at Das’s insistence.
The Congress is fielding former MP and senior party leader Dr Ajoy Kumar as its candidate from the constituency.
However, the BJP’s biggest hope in Kolhan is ex-CM Champai Soren—a six-time MLA and the flag-bearer of the JMM for more than three decades—who is contesting from Saraikela.
Soren, a strong tribal leader in Kolhan, joined the BJP on 30 August. Since then, political circles have been abuzz with talk about the extent of the damage his move will inflict on the JMM in the assembly polls.
Despite the BJP’s denials about dynastic politics, analysts believe the party didn’t have a choice following a string of defeats in the past. “The BJP was compelled to resort to dynasty politics in Kolhan,” political analyst Baijnath Mishra told ThePrint.
Elaborating on the BJP’s political compulsions, Mishra said the party couldn’t ignore Geeta Koda as it had been facing defeat in Jagannathpur for the last four elections.
He added that Champai Soren had joined the BJP because he wanted his son to contest from Ghatshila and this wasn’t possible in the JMM.
“When Arjun Munda—who was ousted from the Kharsawan assembly seat in 2014 and then the Khunti Lok Sabha constituency this time—pitched his wife’s name, why would Raghubar Das stay behind? Das, who was a strong face in the BJP, is upset about being sidelined from Jharkhand politics. That is why he has also put forward his legacy,” Mishra added.
Dissent within the BJP
Still, the BJP denies the existence of dynastic politics in the party.
“The Congress is identified with the Nehru family. In Jharkhand, the JMM is identified with Shibu Soren’s family,” Jharkhand BJP chief Babulal Marandi told reporters in Ranchi on Monday.
“In the BJP, a candidate can be a brother, father or son of anyone, but they don’t manage the party. It is BJP workers who manage the party,” he added.
However, the BJP’s candidate list has caused dissent within the party in Kolhan and Santhal Pargana, with many prominent leaders who were not nominated leaving to join the JMM.
The party faced a major jolt on Monday when former Ghatshila MLA and BJP leader Laxman Tudu, veteran leader Ganesh Mahali, and BJP East Singhbhum district vice-president Bari Murmu joined the JMM.
At the same time, former Baharagora MLA Kunal Shadangi and the BJP’s major tribal face in Santhal Pargana, Louis Marandi, also joined the JMM.
The JMM may field Mahali, who lost to Champai Soren in 2019, in Seraikela.
“I have been a flag-bearer of the BJP for 24 years. When Champai Soren joined the BJP, I made Kharsawan my base, but Champai Soren blocked my way there too,” said Mahali.
“The BJP accuses other parties of nepotism, but the party itself is surrounded by dynasty politics. Why was the ticket given to the son of Champai Soren, who joined the party three months ago?” he added.
Some BJP leaders said the party’s move would backfire on it in the assembly election.
“Those who have been carrying the party flag for two or three decades and claiming tickets in the organisation will be crushed in this dynastic politics. The BJP’s decision will backfire on the party and it won’t succeed in breaking the tribal stronghold of Kolhan,” a BJP functionary told ThePrint.
Already, some disgruntled former BJP leaders have announced their plans to contest as Independents.
The BJP’s Majhgaon assembly constituency in-charge Rajkumar Singh is standing as an independent candidate against the party’s official nominee, Purnima Das Sahoo, in Jamshedpur (East).
“How long should the party workers wait for the ticket? The state organisation says the sentiments of the workers are taken into account while giving tickets. But the fact is that the decision is different from that,” he told ThePrint.
Also read: In poll-bound Jharkhand, BJP grapples with lack of ‘strong’ local leadership. PM, CMs, party MPs step up
High-stakes battle
As the election draws closer, jostling for seats is intensifying.
The BJP, which is contesting 68 seats, has left 10 seats to its ally, the All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU), two to the Janata Dal (United) and one to the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP).
All parties have their eyes trained on the politically significant Kolkan region, comprising the districts of East Singhbhum (Jamshedpur), West Singhbhum (Chaibasa) and Saraikela.
A large part of the region, which shares a border with West Bengal and Odisha, is dominated by the Santhal, Munda and Ho tribes.
Of the 14 assembly seats in Kolhan, 10 are reserved for tribals, one for Scheduled Castes and three are unreserved. In 2019, the BJP did not even open its account while the JMM won 11 seats and the Congress two.
Sensing the dissent within the party, BJP strategists have begun persuading disgruntled leaders to return to the fold.
One of them is three-time former Potka MLA Maneka Sardar, who resigned from the party when the first list of BJP candidates was released as she was passed over for Meera Munda.
“I had claimed the ticket, but because the ticket was given to an outside candidate, I felt that the party no longer needed me,” she said.
However, Sardar told The Print on Monday she had decided to stay on in the party as Union minister and election in-charge Shivraj Singh Chauhan, as well as party state president Babulal Marandi, had assured her that she would be “given respect in the party”.
Maneka Sardar belongs to the Bhumij Munda community, which holds significant voting power in Potka. The current JMM MLA, Sanjeev Sardar, is a member of this community.
“There has been a history in Jharkhand that after the list of candidates is announced, there is some dissatisfaction and some people even resign,” Assam Chief Minister and Jharkhand BJP co-in charge of the assembly elections Himanta Biswa Sarma told the media in Ranchi on Monday.
“Our party is big and if anyone is dissatisfied, we will talk to them. Those who do not agree will leave.”
Sarma also denied any dynastic politics in the BJP, saying that since Arjun Munda and Raghubar Das were not contesting the election, the wife and daughter-in-law are contesting respectively.
“When Champai Soren was joining the BJP, some talks were held with him. He was given assurances, so we are fulfilling them,” he said.
JMM and Congress target BJP on “dynasty” issue
The JMM and the Congress have turned up the heat on the BJP with charges of dynastic politics.
Veteran JMM leader Deepak Birua took a jibe at the father-son duo of Champai Soren and Babulal Soren in a 19 October post on X.
“Johar (greetings) will be given to both father and son (Champai Soren and Babulal Soren). They will have to lose. Champai ji should be ready to measure the margin of defeat. The JMM will leave no stone unturned,” wrote Birua, who is leading the effort to mobilise workers to defeat Champai Soren in Seraikela.
पिता और पुत्र दोनों के लिए जोहार रहेगा,हारना तो होगा,मार्जिन @ChampaiSoren दादा को नापना होगा .@JmmJharkhand कोई कसर नहीं रखेगा,आप तैयार रहें,मैं मानूँगा नहीं जब तक हार नहीं हो… pic.twitter.com/biZpFF92r0
— Deepak Birua (@deepakbiruajmm) October 19, 2024
The Congress and the JMM said the BJP’s strategy wouldn’t pay off.
“The BJP should look within itself and stop accusing the Congress-JMM of doing politics of nepotism or dynasty. The BJP has presented a big example of dynasty in the Jharkhand elections, but it will not succeed in winning the election by resorting to dynasty,” said Congress leader and minister Irfan Ansari.
Representatives of tribal organisations also are also keeping an eye on this situation in BJP.
“This move of the BJP is like blunting the tribal leadership. It will have far-reaching consequences. That is why the tribal society is looking at it seriously,” Mukesh Birua, central president of the Ho Mahasabha, told ThePrint.
Some tribal leaders believe the BJP’s decision will not go down well with the tribal community in Jharkhand.
“After losing all five seats reserved for tribals in the Lok Sabha polls, the BJP has brought forward the politics of dynasty, but it will be defeated in its gameplan. The tribals know that if the BJP comes to power, threats to water, forests and land will increase,” Dashrath Gagrai, the JMM’s MLA from Kharsawan, told ThePrint.
Durga Charan Majhi of East Singhbhum, a senior representative of the tribal governance system, told ThePrint the tribal community was waiting for the BJP’s manifesto and its stand on issues like implementing the Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Areas (PESA) Act, 1996 which gives gram sabhas in Scheduled Areas certain powers.
The tribal community is also waiting for the BJP’s position on the long-pending demand for a separate code for the Sarna tribal religion and the inclusion of the local Ho language in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution, Majhi said.
Will the BJP’s political calculations pay off in the election?
Maybe, say analysts.
“This time in Kolhan, the BJP seems to be giving a tough challenge to JMM in many seats and the drought may also end. But the danger of sabotage at every step is its biggest challenge. If BJP patches up the discord in time, it can get the advantage in Kolhan.” said Mishra.
“The second important thing is to see how sincerely the alliance parties help each other,” he added.
(Edited by Sugita Katyal)
Also read: NRC will be rolled out in Jharkhand & ‘infiltrators’ deported if BJP comes to power, says Babulal Marandi