Tag: State-of-Jharkhand

India’s BJP loses polls in Jharkhand where lynchings killed many.

Source – aljazeera.com

India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has lost control of the eastern state of Jharkhand , which made headlines in the past few years for a series of mob lynchings – mostly over cows, an animal considered sacred by some Hindus.

The results of the state assembly polls, declared on Monday, showed a pre-election alliance of the regional Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), the Indian National Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) winning 47 of the 81 seats.

The BJP, which ruled the state since 2014, won 25 seats, according to the Jharkhand state’s election commission.

The Hindu nationalist BJP’s loss of a state it has ruled since 2014 is being seen as a setback for the policies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Mob lynchings

These are the second state elections the BJP has lost since returning to power with a thumping majority in the general elections in May.

“People here are angry with the BJP, the results show this,” Hemant Soren of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, who is tipped to become the chief minister, was quoted as saying by the NDTV news channel. His party
won the largest number of seats at 30.

Among the issues that angered the electorate was nearly 20 cases of mob lynchings of mostly Muslims in the resource-rich state by Hindu vigilante groups believed to be affiliated to the ruling BJP.

In June this year, Tabrez Ansari, 24, was beaten to death by a mob in Jharkhand’s Kharsawan district on suspicion of theft, causing a public uproar.

In 2016, Imtiaz Khan, a 12-year-old schoolboy, and Majloom Ansari, a 32-year-old cattle trader, were abducted, beaten and hanged from a tree in the state’s Latehar district. Eight people were found guilty of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Since 2012, at least 133 cow-related attacks were reported in India, leading to 50 deaths and more than 290 injuries, according to a FactChecker.in database that records such attacks.

About 98 percent or 130 of the crimes recorded in the database took place after 2014, when the BJP first came to power at the centre, and in Jharkhand state later that year.

Polls in middle of protests

Three of the five rounds of voting in Jharkhand were held in the middle of a sometimes deadly wave of nationwide protests triggered by a new citizenship law, which critics say discriminates against Muslims and has brought thousands of people out on to the streets in opposition.READ MORE

The polls in Jharkhand opened on November 30, before the demonstrations kicked off. However, the BJP’s defeat will be a shot in the arm for India’s opposition parties, some of which have used popular anger against the Citizenship Amendment Act to their advantage.

The Modi government insists that the law is needed to help persecuted non-Muslim minorities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan who came to India before 2015 by giving them Indian citizenship.

In a show of strength on Monday, the BJP staged a protest, attended by several hundred people, in Kolkata in support of the CAA.

“It is wrong to treat the Jharkhand results as a referendum on the citizenship law. State assembly elections are fought on local issues,” BJP spokesman Gopal Krishna Agarwal said.

Since January 2018, the BJP has lost state elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra states.

The next polls are expected in the national capital territory of Delhi in February next year.

Jharkhand Foundation Day: All you need to know.

Source – jagranjosh.com

Jharkhand is also known as ‘The land of forest” or ‘Bushland’. It is situated in eastern India and before establishment is the southern half of Bihar. Presently, Jharkhand state shares its border with Bihar to the north, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Chhattisgarh to the west, Odisha to the south and West Bengal to the east.

Jharkhand: Quick Facts

Area: approx. 79,716 sq. km

Population (2011 Census): approx. 32,988,134

Male Population (2011 Census): 16,930,315

Female Population (2011 Census): 16,057,819

Capital: Ranchi

Official Language: Hindi

Other Languages: Angika, Bengali, Bhojpuri, Ho, Kharia, Khortha, Kurmali, Kurukh, Magahi, Maithili, Mundari, Nagpuri, Odia, Santhali etc.

Largest City of Jharkhand: Jamshedpur

Districts: 24

National Highways: 1844 Km

State Highways: 6880 Km

Rank according to Area: 15

Rank according to population: 14

Density (2011 Census): 414 per sq. km.

Jharkhand State Animal: Indian Elephant

Jharkhand State Bird: Koel

Jharkhand Flower: Palash

Jharkhand Tree: Sal

Jharkhand: History

Jharkhand was carved out in 2000 out of the southern portion of Bihar. It is the homeland of the tribal’s who had dreamed of a separate state since long. After independence, people of Jharkhand state received little socioeconomic benefit, particularly tribal peoples. According to legend, in the 13th century, Raja Jai Singh Deo of Odisha had declared himself the ruler of Jharkhand.

The State of Jharkhand comprises forests of Chhotanagpur plateau and Santhal Pargana and has different cultural traditions. After independence, due to the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha’s regular agitation impelled the government to establish the Jharkhand Area Autonomous Council in 1995 and finally an independent State.

Jharkhand: Geography and Climate

Chota Nagpur Plateau in Jharkhand is a source of various rivers including Koel, Damodar, Brahmani, Kharkai, and Subarnarekha. Also, their upper watersheds lie within the Jharkhand. Most of the state is also covered with the forest and supports the populations of tigers and Asian Elephants. The soil of Jharkhand state is made up of rocks and stones and its compositions are divided into Red soil, Sandy soil, Black soil, and Laterite soil.

  • Red soil is found in the Damodar valley, the Rajmahal area, Koderma, Jhumri Telaiya, Barkagaon.
  • Sandy soil is found in the Mandar hills of Jharkhand in Hazaribagh and Dhanbad.
  • Black soil in the Rajmahal area.
  • Laterite soil in the western part of Ranchi, Palamu, parts of Santhal Parganas and Singhbhum.

There are three seasons in Jharkhand namely the cold-weather season, hot-weather season and southwest monsoon.

  • The cold-weather season lasts from November to February.
  • The hot-weather season lasts from March to mid-June.
  • The southwest monsoon lasts from mid-June to October and brings rainfall in almost all the states.

Some more facts regarding Jharkhand State

– Jharkhand state is rich in mineral resources like coal, iron ore, copper ore, uranium, mica, bauxite, granite, limestone, silver, graphite, magnetite, and dolomite.

– Do you know that Jharkhand is the only state that produces coking coal, uranium, and pyrite?

– According to the data released by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), Jharkhand state has attracted Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) equity inflows worth US$ 113 million during April 2000 to December 2018.

– 80% rural population of the Jharkhand state depends upon agriculture for their livelihood.

– The major food crop of the Jharkhand state is rice.

– The most prominent multipurpose power project of Jharkhand is the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC).

– High court is in Ranchi, with a chief justice and several other judges.

– Below high courts; district courts, sub-divisional courts, munsifs’ courts, and village councils are there.

– Jharkhand has more than 500 medical centres. Some large and well-equipped hospitals are located at Jamshedpur, Ranchi, and Dhanbad. Cancer hospital is situated in Jamshedpur. Treatment of tuberculosis, mental illness and leprosy are located near Ranchi.

– The leading causes of death in the state are due to respiration problems, dysentery, and diarrhoea. On the other hand Cholera and malaria also occur.

– The State has several universities including Ranchi University, Birsa Agriculture University, Sido Kanhu Murmu University, Vinoba Bhave University.

– The most recognised dance of Jharkhand is Chhau which is a masked dance basically performed in the southeastern region. Other tribal celebrations include a festival of flowers known as Sarhul, a cattle festival known as Sohrai and a post harvest festival called Mage Parab.

Therefore, on 15 November 2000, the Chota Nagpur region was separated from Bihar to form Jharkhand state i.e. the 28th state of India.