On December 28 afternoon, Raghuvar Das was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Jharkhand. New Delhi’s fog kept Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his trusted lieutenant, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah, from flying to Ranchi and being a part of the swearing in ceremony. The BJP, under the Modi-Shah formula of projecting Mr. Modi’s governance promise combined with some deft ticket distribution and organisational push, has continued its winning spree by bagging Jharkhand. The party and its ally All Jharkhand Students’ Union (AJSU) together secured a clean majority, winning 42 of the 81 seats in the Assembly. Mr. Das is a five-time MLA and a former Deputy Chief Minister whose credentials as the State’s first non-tribal Chief Minister have been discussed a lot. Ironically, the State was formed over a decade ago but it has already seen more than half a dozen Chief Ministers and three stints of President’s rule. Instability, so far, has been an inseparable part of the State’s politics, defeating the purpose for which smaller States are carved out: delivering better and more targeted governance.
Leaving the past behind The mandate in Jharkhand clearly points towards the collective desire of the people of the State to leave the past behind and claim what is rightfully due to them. Though tribals collectively constitute less than one-third of the population, the State’s politics never moved beyond identity politics. Mr. Das’s fate too could have been different had former three-time Chief Minister and tribal leader Arjun Munda not lost the election. The electorate of Jharkhand has made the first, enabling move to allow the BJP-AJSU combine to deliver more than merely just identity politics ridden with nepotism, corruption and crony capitalism.
The election saw not just Mr. Munda losing from Kharasawan, but other former Chief Ministers lose their respective Vidhan Sabha seats as well. The State’s first Chief Minister, Babulal Marandi, lost the Dhanwar seat to CPI (M-L) (L) candidate Raj Kumar Yadaw, and in Giridih to Nirbhay Kumar Shahabadi.
Madhu Koda, who rose to become the Chief Minister in 2006 with the Congress’s backing despite being an independent MLA, also lost from Majhganon. Mr. Koda’s political career (he began as a BJP candidate in 2000, became an independent in 2005, Chief Minister from 2006 to 2008 and eventually the main accused in a mining scam) in a nutshell is a brief pointer to what ails the politics of the mineral-rich State. Sitting Chief Minister Hemant Soren lost in his stronghold Dumka but managed to win from Barhait — a clear signal from his electors to not take victory for granted either.
National and regional players The election results are significant for both the national and regional players who were in the fray. There is a signal that in the near future, the electoral fight will be between the BJP and the regional parties if the Congress continues with its losing streak. The BJP-AJSU tally is a sharp climb from 23 seats five years ago. The BJP has managed to establish itself once again as a key player in another State election.
Clearly, the election in Jharkhand too was fought under the shadow of the party’s sweep of the 2014 Lok Sabha election. While on the face of it the BJP has been claiming the benefit of a ‘Modi wave,’ it has actually taken the electoral fight to the booth level in every constituency. It is slowly putting in place a well-oiled election machinery.
However, what prevented the BJP from sweeping the State was the fight put up by outgoing Chief Minister and the face of the JMM in this election, Mr. Soren. Under him, the JMM fought the election hard despite anti-incumbency. Mr. Soren gave a cleaner government than his party ever had under his father and JMM founder Shibu Soren. As a result, the party bettered its vote share. The BJP had led in nearly three-fourths of the Assembly segments in the Lok Sabha elections but eventually won 37 seats in the State election. The JMM, which had the lead in nine assembly segments in May 2014, ultimately finished with 19 seats — one more than 2009 — in the Assembly elections. The Congress’s numbers declined from 14 in 2009 to six this time, while the JMM bettered its performance at the Congress’s cost. The elections have enabled Mr. Soren, who was sworn in as the Chief Minister last July, to come out of his father’s shadow simply because he did not give up the election for a lost cause. That is something for Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi to take lessons from: instead of adding deadweight to a Congress in free fall, he could lead his party by putting up a respectable fight in future elections.
The BJP, on its part, will have to prove that the choice of Mr. Das as Chief Minister is not a mere eventuality but a step in consonance with the desires and aspirations of the people of the State. The voters have expressed both their expectations and provided checks in the form of a strong opposition through the mandate. The BJP-AJSU combine will need to address tribal concerns without merely using identity politics as an electoral teller machine. A clear mandate topped with a robust opposition should make it easier for any earnest government to not stray from its path. There is no political fog over Ranchi any more. The people have shown the way that the leaders must follow.
jatin.gandhi@thehindu.co.in
