Hemant Soren stands vindicated. The Jharkhand Chief Minister who spent months behind bars in alleged corruption cases has emerged victorious in one of the most difficult political battles of his life. The JMM-led coalition is poised to form its government with partners Congress, the RJD and the CPI(ML) without much ado. The Jharkhand Assembly Elections 2024 not only gave him the opportunity to prove himself innocent, it also pushed the BJP and its politics of alleged vendetta and aggressive Hinduism to the oblivion at least for the time being.
Arrest Of Hemant Soren Plays Crucial Role
After the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested the son of “Guruji” Shibu Soren on January 31 this year in an alleged land scam case under Section 19 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, the political dynamics of the state underwent a change.
The JMM accused the BJP and the Narendra Modi-led union government of political vendetta and targeting him for not falling in line. It also raked up the issue of the humiliation of a tribesman insult of the state of Jharkhand.
UCC, The Card That Failed
But JMM’s main emphasis was on the planks of development and secularism as it successfully tried to consolidate the tribals and the Muslims. The JMM’s gamble paid off as it staunchly protested against the proposed Universal Civil Code. The BJP tried to break the possible consolidation of the Muslim-tribals votes by assuring that the tribals would be kept out of the UCC.
Buoyed on the success of the NRC and the issue of infiltration of Bangladeshis in Assam, the BJP tried to play the trump card in the state of Jharkhand as well, but it failed. The BJP failed to the gauge the impact of this issue and overhyped it.
Bangladeshi Infiltration: Did Not Take-Off
From stalwarts like PM Narendra Modi and Amit Shah to local leaders, all took additional efforts to raise the issue that millions of Bangladeshis have infiltrated and affected the democracy of the state, particularly that of Santhal Pargana.
Targeting Muslims Backfired
The saffron party targeted the Muslim community without taking its name and tried to sell the idea that the minority would disturb the demographic balance and dominate in the coming years, an old story it had played in other parts of the country that the Hindus are in danger.
The Election Commission slammed the saffron party for posting on its social media sites a video showing a group of men capturing the house of a leader of the party. It wanted to drive the point that the outsiders would capture your house one day. The ploy did not work and the people did not accept what the BJP wanted to say.
Humiliation Of Tribal
Similarly, the BJP’s attempt of humiliating the tribal people did not work when it played the card of Champai Soren. After Hemant Soren was released from jail on bail, he became the Chief Minister of the state once again and Champai Soren vacated the seat, but reluctantly and grudgingly.
Champai Soren Fails
The BJP lapped up the occasion, took Chmpai under its wings with the promise of making him the Chief Minister of the state after the election. However, it backfired. Champai Soren failed to bring his own vote bank to the BJP, he failed to impact his old area of impact- Kolhan. Even his son Babu Lal Soren lost the Ghatshila seat on the BJP ticket to JMM’s Ram Das Soren.
All the tricks of the BJP failed, all its cards fell on the ground and the people of Jharkhand voted against the saffron party.
