Tag: BJP-government

Jharkhand is a mandate of the poor, for their rights.

Source – hindustantimes.com

The verdict for the Jharkhand assembly is, first and foremost, a verdict in favour of a new localism, and is a reflection of people’s voice overwhelming the arena of state elections in India.

One key issue, which helps frame the meaning of the verdict, is the struggle of adivasis against purported amendments to their land rights by the Raghubar Das-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, with its acquisition deemed unjust in the name of intended development. At an even deeper level, the protest of poor people on this and other related issues of their rights as tribal citizens — specially through the pathalgadi movement— brings to fore their belief in the salience of the Constitution and voting or matdan as a preferred form of political change. At the very least, it is the “demand side” of politics, especially from the asymmetrically placed poor voter, powerless and vulnerable, that has overwhelmed and realigned the “supply side” on offer from political parties.

Conventional vectors used to understand Jharkhand fail to explain this new turn. For one, the verdict is not just about identities of the tribal, nor is it about the manipulation of patronage and money — for long considered the bane of Jharkhand politics. Nor are the outcomes simply a reflection of the overwhelming “arithmetic” of the coalition.

First the outcome itself: The formidable majority obtained by the pre-poll alliance of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), the Congress, and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), is a historic first for this alliance in general, and the JMM in particular. Since Jharkhand was formed in November 2000, following its bifurcation from the erstwhile larger state of Bihar, and since its first state election 2005, the 81-member assembly has always seen fragmented verdicts, with post-poll coalitions being stitched to form governments.

The BJP championed the struggle for the new state. But it has only ruled with the support of the JMM, and, subsequently, with the support of the All Jharkhand Students Union led by Sudesh Mahto, and by engineering defections from Jharkhand Vikas Morcha led by Babulal Marandi — an erstwhile BJP chief minister (CM).

In 2014, the BJP central leadership decided to appoint a non-tribal leader as CM in Raghubar Das. The understanding was that at just about 27% of the population, and with sub-tribal internal differences such as those between the Santhals, Mundas, and Oraons, the BJP could play a “caste plus tribe politics” of vote banks. This would include the Mahtos (17%) under the leadership of ally Sudesh Mahto, and forward castes and urban voters. It is noteworthy that in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, as the Hindustan Times reported on November 2, the Narendra Modi-led BJP polled 70% of the Other Backward Classes (OBC) vote, 60% of the upper-caste vote, and 65% of the Hindu Scheduled Tribe votes.

In the state elections, however, this assumption of a fused tribe-caste vote bank in favour of the BJP proved erroneous. Tribal fears about dilution of the Chotanagpur Tenenacy Act (1908), and the Santhal Pargana Tenancy Act (1949) were rampant. The CM had, in the assembly, moved an amendment to the central land acquisition Act, such that the state government was no longer required to conduct social impact assessments, provide for schools, colleges; nor social security for the displaced.

On many occasions, paltry sums were given to the tribals in exchange for land. This stoked fears among the tribals. After all, Shibu Soren earned the name of being the “Dishom Guruji” for having struggled to free the tribal poor from the clutches of the money lender, and to get their land back. The pathalgadi movement, centred in Khoonti, was a movement in revolt. A constitutional protest, it sought to uphold the rights of tribals under Panchayat (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, and the role of gram sabha in prior consent to developmental schemes, and was an assertion of their human rights. Citizens cast these constitutional rights in stones, pathal, and erected these outside their village boundaries. The state government responded with force, and more than 10,000 FIRs were registered on protesting tribals. The JMM campaign was pitched primarily on the issue of land-rights of tribals. It also promised implementation of the recommendations of the Sachar Committee report, and reservations in jobs for locals in the private sector. An alliance of tribals, minorities, and the poor among caste Hindus coalesced on the ground to support the coalition that Hemant Soren will lead, reaping the legacy of his father.

For the BJP, the lessons are simple. For a party that had strong foundations in the Jharkhand area, and among the tribals, the unabashed adoption of developmentalism alienating tribal rights cannot be premised in majoritarianism or strong political backing of the Centre. The party needs to go back to the grassroots, where it has a base of work with the Vanvasi Kalyan Ashrams and other educational activities.

Many would like to see this as a return of the regional party politics, a victory of loose coalitions against a strong centre, a format prevalent since the 1990s. However, when one aligns oneself to the ground, listening to the voices of the poor, and adopts a lens of political geography that foregrounds the meaning of Jharkhand, it is clear that this is a massive mandate of the poor.

Grand alliance energised after Jharkhand results; BJP on backfoot in Bihar, say experts.

source – hindustantimes.com

The assembly election result in Jharkhand has infused more energy in the grand alliance. The ‘Mahagathbandhan’ of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Congress overthrew the Raghubar Das-led BJP government in the state and has its eyes set on the 2020 assembly elections in Bihar.

On Monday night, RJD president Lalu Prasad, imprisoned in Ranchi’s Birsa Munda Central jail in connection with fodder scam cases, quietly congratulated JMM leader Hemant Soren and gave his blessings from a government hospital where he is undergoing medical treatment. As the votes were being counted, Lalu’s younger son and Leader of Opposition in Bihar assembly, Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, had predicted victory for Soren and congratulated him in advance.

Drawing a parallel between Jharkhand and Bihar, leaders of the Congress and the RJD observed that the Jharkhand’s poll verdict gave a clear message that they would have an easy win in Bihar also if they remained united and respected one other.

“Jharkhand poll reaffirmed the perception that GA (grand alliance) is a viable alternative people are looking for. After Jharkhand, it is now the turn of Bihar to banish the Nitish Kumar-led NDA,” said Congress MLC and AICC media panelist Prem Chandra Mishra.

RJD legislator Bhai Birendra, also the party spokesman, said that countdown of Nitish Kumar-led government in Bihar has started. “Nitish Kumar has lived his political innings. He is now irrelevant in Bihar. However, the results may help his JD(U) to bargain for greater stake in NDA in the state as well Centre,” said Birendra, ruling out any chance of Kumar’s return to the RJD-led coalition.

“The results in Jharkhand will have a direct bearing on Bihar’s elections as well. After the formation of government in Jharkhand, we will see how the JMM could play its role in unseating the NDA in Bihar,” said JMM general secretary Binod Pandey, adding that Sibu Soren-led party still had good clout among the electorate in Bihar.

The RJD has other reasons to feel elated as the JD(U) could not win even a single seat, despite contesting on 47. BJP’s another alliance partner, Ram Vilas Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), too, contested on 50 seats but failed to open its account.

RESULTS TO CAST SPELL ON BIHAR

Union Home Minister Amit Shah had, in October, announced that the BJP will fight next year’s assembly election in Bihar in alliance with the Janata Dal (United) and under the leadership of the Nitish Kumar. Some political analysts say Kumar had started hobnobbing with the RJD after statements against him from BJP leaders. But, BJP seems to have realised that falling back on Kumar was a safer option in Bihar.

The BJP had sacrificed five seats to accommodate JD(U) in 2019 Lok Sabha polls. It had contested on 30 seats in 2014, won 22 seats with a vote share of 29.86 per cent wheras the JD(U) contested on 38 seats independently and got 16.04 per cent votes. It won on just two seats. Another of the BJP’s alliance partner in 2014, the LJP, contested on seven seats and won on six with a vote share of 6.50 per cent.

Analysts feel that the BJP not getting the numbers in Jharkhand will give it a tough time ahead. In Bihar, the saffron party will be on the backfoot.

But leaders of JD(U) and BJP rule out any breach in alliance in Bihar.

“The socio-economic and cultural identity of Bihar is completely different from that of Jharkhand. In Jharkhand, there was no alliance in NDA. But in Bihar, BJP president Amit Shah has already announced that the elections will be contested under Nitish Kumar who is a tested leader. Moreover, the Opposition here is not united,” said JD(U) leader KC Tyagi.

“The Jharkhand poll results won’t have any impact on Bihar because the demography and geography is divergent in both the states. The NDA government is working hard towards the development of Bihar and we will win the 2020 assembly elections comfortably,” said Bihar BJP spokesperson Nikhil Anand.

Political analyst D M Diwakar of A N Sinha Institute for Social Studies, however, opines that the results are going to make an impact in Bihar. “It will revitalise the grand alliance and help improve its performance. For the NDA, hard times lie ahead. The only solace is that they have cleared the air on chief ministerial candidate. The anti-incumbency has set in and they will have to re-think their strategy,” he said.

Diwakar feels that when it will come to seat-sharing for the assembly seats, the JD(U) will again have an upper hand. On the other hand, the BJP leadership by projecting Kumar, has shown that it was “desperate not to lose JD (U)”.

In Jharkhand, Congress borrows a strategy from Maharashtra’s Sharad Pawar.

Source – hindustantimes.com

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar’s campaign strategy in Maharashtra shaped the Congress’s line of campaigning in Jharkhand as it kept the focus on local issues, economy and jobs, and avoided getting into a debate on nationalism, as pushed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The state, where tribals play a key role in politics, witnessed a bitter battle of narratives. While the BJP made Article 370, Ayodhya and Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB), now an Act (CAA), its poll plank, the Congress and its alliance partner Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) stuck to their tactic of keeping the rivals engaged on local matters, and limited their discourse on national issues to economic slowdown, price rise and unemployment.

The Congress had undoubtedly taken a leaf out of Pawar’s book as the Maratha leader during the Maharashtra elections successfully dodged the BJP’s nationalism narrative and extensively campaigned on local issues.

“It was deliberate on our part to keep the elections focussed on local issues and not fall into the BJP’s trap of making it nationalism-centered. We had also received feedback that there is strong anti-incumbency against BJP chief minister Raghubar Das and as such they will raise the pitch on Article 370, Ayodhya and the CAB,” said senior Congress leader Ajay Sharma. “We didn’t let that happen and kept the campaign entirely Jharkhand-centric.”

Sharma handled the Congress’s campaign in Ranchi and assisted the party’s Jharkhand in-charge, RPN Singh, in campaign strategy and planning.

He said the Congress also thwarted all attempts by the BJP to make it Prime Minister Narendra Modi-centric elections, as the ruling party decided to increase his number of rallies after assessing that the local leaders are not getting the required traction on the ground.

The Congress had crafted different campaign plan for each of the five phases of elections. The party had also planned to end the campaigning on December 18 with a rally by either Congress president Sonia Gandhi or party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. The latter, eventually, addressed a public meeting along with JMM chief Hemant Soren at Pakur in the Santhal-Pargana region.

Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi addressed four rallies across the state.

“For the first time in 18 years, the Congress was in a fighting-fit form and we gave our best. Besides, the in-charge [RPN Singh] camped in the state for 40 consecutive days which never happened in the past,” said the party’s state working president, Rajesh Thakur.

But Jharkhand BJP spokesperson Pratul Shahdeo dismissed the contention that the ruling party was on the back-foot on local issues and instead blamed the opposition alliance for polarising the elections.

“We started with ‘Ghar Ghar Raghubar’ campaign and talked about stability and development in the last five years of the BJP government. But the Congress and JMM leaders started polarising the elections by talking negatively about Article 370 and we responded by exposing their double standards,” Shahdeo said.

He claimed that the alliance also hit the panic button after getting the feedback that the minority voters were supporting the BJP in large numbers. “At the same time, national issues are always paramount for us. As far as increasing the Prime Minister’s number of rallies, the figures available suggest a clear 80.9% strike rate for him as compared to 18.1% that of Rahul Gandhi,” added Shahdeo.

But political analysts said the local issues dominated the poll discourse among a large section of voters during the elections. “Roti [bread], kapda [cloth] aur makaan [house] are important for all and they take precedence over national issues. Voters across the country have shown that they vote differently for national and state elections,” said LK Kundan, associate professor of the political science department at the Ranchi University.

The elections for the 81-member Jharkhand assembly were held in five phases between November 30 and December 20. The results will be declared on December 23.

As per their pre-poll agreement, the Congress is contesting 31 seats while the JMM 43 seats and the RJD seven.

On the other hand, the BJP and the All Jharkhand Students Union or AJSU Party could not come to an understanding and are fighting the elections separately.

“It is a ploy. They [BJP and AJSU] have been together for five years and will join hands after the elections. The people are seeing through their drama and will hand over a crushing defeat to them,” Sharma said.

Highlights|‘BJP took hard decisions’: PM Modi talks of Art 370, Ayodhya in Jharkhand.

Source – hindustantimes.com

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed two election rallies in poll-bound Jharkhand on Tuesday – one in Khunti and the other in Jamshedpur.

The five-phase elections to the 81-member Jharkhand Assembly began on November 30 and will end on December 20. Counting of votes will take place on December 23.

Here are the highlights from his rally:

– Says the next five years are very important for the state and asks people to vote for the BJP.

– Talks about his government enacting law for reservation to economically weaker sections.

– PM Modi talks about the law on triple talaq, says BJP has worked to safeguard the rights of Muslim women.

– On the Ayodhya issue, PM Modi says there was conspiracy to delay the issue and the Congress used it for its vote bank. Adds, that such a big issue has been resolved peacefully and everyone has welcomed it.

– Talking about abrogating Article 370, PM Modi said, people of the country elected Modi to take hard decisions. Says, he only thinks about the country and that is why article 370, which had been in existence for decades, was revoked and the whole nation supported it.

– When it comes to taking hard decisions, only the BJP government could do it, says PM Modi. Says only the BJP can solve the problems of Jharkhand.

— PM Modi says BJP government is the first to think about people in the unorganised sector.

— PM blames previous governments for not making efforts to promote the production of tussar silk in the state. BJP government is moving forward with a vision to make Jharkhand a hub of tussar silk production.

– When there is BJP government in both Centre and state, the pace of development becomes faster: PM Modi.

– PM Modi talks about various government schemes launched by the BJP for the benefit of people.

– PM Modi says Jharkhand CM’s chair was up for sale during Congress-JMM rule.

– BJP gave stability to the state, says the PM. Adds, BJP’s double engine has worked for the benefit of Jharkhand.

– Says till five years ago, Jharkhand used to be in news for political instability. In just 15 years, the state saw 10 chief ministers. He blames Congress and JMM’s ‘selfishness’ for the instability.

– PM Modi asks people to remember the situation that existed five years ago, says there were only stories of corruption when the Congress-JMM alliance was in power. Adds, sveral of their leaders are still under trial.

– Ayushman Bharat scheme, world’s biggest health scheme, was launched in Jharkhand, says the PM.

– Jamshedpur is land of labour, land of enterprise; this land has fulfilled dreams of millions, enhanced India’s reputation in world: PM Modi at poll rally.

– I salute the spirit of the city and the founder of the city Jamshedji Nusarwan Tata: PM Modi.

– PM Modi says he is grateful for the presence of people in such large numbers. Says the numbers show that the BJP will get majority in the polls.

– PM Modi begins his address.

– PM Modi will shortly address an election rally in Jamshedpur. State chief minister Raghubar Das is the BJP candidate from Jamshedpur East assembly constituency.

– PM Modi appeals to the people to vote in large numbers to ‘reveal the lies of Congress and JMM’. Says, the election is for the development of Jharkhand. Asks people to remember the Lotus symbol.

– PM Modi warn people to be beware of Congress, says Congress has eyes on Jharkhand’s mineral wealth and want to loot it.

– BJP has made many efforts to promote tourism in the state and people from India and abroad come here to visit.

– Our government created the district mineral fund which stipulates that a certain percentage of revenue has to be spent in the district itself.

– Now that Jharkhand has turned 19, the next five years are very important for the state. Don’t miss the opportunity. I am always ready for you, just need your cooperation.

– The BJP government is giving special attention to tribal areas.  It was the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government which created a separate Jharkhand state and created a separate ministry of tribal affairs.

– PM Modi says JMM-Congress alliance’s politics is that of deception, while BJP’s is of service.

– Lord Ram left Ayodhya as prince but returned as ‘Maryada Purushottam’ as he spent time with Adivasis: PM Modi at poll rally.

– The issue of Ayodhya which the Congress and others kept on dragging for long has been peacefully resolved.

— Says in states ruled by the Congress, the governments have not been able to fulfil any of its promises and thus, people have been forced to take to roads.

– The double engine of BJP in Centre and state is working to make lives of farmers and tribals easier. There is direct transfer in the bank accounts of farmers.

– The BJP government in Jharkhand has broken the back of naxalism: PM Narendra Modi tells poll rally.

– People of Jharkhand have faith in BJP that it alone can ensure state’s development:

– Today in Jharkhand, there is solar power being generated; says Khunti has been joined with Paradip with an oil pipeline.

NRC to affect Jharkhand tribals, say activists.

Source – telegraphindia.com

The protests that erupted across the country on Thursday against the amended citizenship law and the proposed all-India National Register of Citizens (NRC) echoed in Jharkhand as well, albeit in a low-key manner because of the model code of conduct.

Common citizens, representatives of civil society organisations and members of Left parties organised two protest marches in Ranchi and one in Jamshedpur. At the first march in Ranchi, the organisers pointed out that the NRC would affect tribals of the state. Adivasis enjoy land rights by tradition and most of their land is vested with village heads hence it will be difficult for them to show individual ownership of land, the activists pointed out. If the tribals can’t prove they own land how can they register in the NRC, the activists wondered.

Representatives of organisations such as Adivasi Adhikar Manch, Christian Yuva Manch, the Ranchi branch of the National Alliance for People’s Movement, Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha (which is itself an umbrella organisation of various such outfits), All India Students’ Front, Adivasi Mahila Manch and Nagrik Adhikar Manch participated in the protest.

“The CAA is a divisive pronouncement of the BJP government,” Bharat Bhushan Chaudhary of the Mahasabha told the gathering.

“The government is using police machinery to quell the voice of protest,” said Praful Linda of the CPM, who also addressed the gathering at the Zilla School ground in Ranchi, citing the police firing in Assam and attack on students of Jamia Milia Islamia University and Aligarh Muslim University.

“The BJP has turned Jharkhand into a laboratory for carrying out anti-minority, anti-poor and anti-tribal experiments,” alleged Vivek Kumar, a Right to Food activist associated with the Mahasabha. “They cancelled scores of ration cards that resulted in starvation deaths in the state.”

Vivek pointed to the many mob lynching cases and the BJP government’s attempt to tweak the tenancy laws meant for protecting tribal land “just to favour chosen corporate houses”.

The gathering marched to Albert Ekka Chowk where they formed a human chain. Members of CPI, CPIM, CPI-ML and MCC marched from Sainik Bazar to Albert Ekka Chowk in the second protest.

In Jamshedpur, around 100 activists of CPI-ML, AISF and other outfits marched from Sakchi roundabout to the district collectorate.

“It was part of the national call of various organisation to protest against the CAA,” said Deepak Ranjeet of the Jharkhand Jantantrik Sabha. “We had asked activists not to shout provocative slogans or indulge in any kind of violence. We submitted a memorandum to the East Singhbhum DC.”