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UPA divided in Jharkhand

For a State born less than a decade ago, Jharkhand is a hotbed of politics. Seasoned players aside, numerous political outfits have mushroomed here in a feverish bid to strike roots among the adivasis, who, at 26 per cent, form a coveted vote bank. Of the State’s 14 Lok Sabha seats, six are reserved for the Scheduled Tribes.

For all its small size, India’s only “tribal State” has witnessed much jostling for power with governments exiting in quick succession, the last but one headed by an independent MLA, Madhu Koda, and its successor falling because the Chief Minister Shibu Soren could not win a crucial Assembly by-election. The Jharkhand Assembly has since been placed under suspended animation.

Politically, Jharkhand continues to be an extension of Bihar from which it was carved out in 2000. The collapse of the United Progressive Alliance in Bihar has adversely affected the UPA in Jharkhand. In 2004, the UPA won 13 of the 14 seats, leaving a lone seat to the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Babulal Marandi. The seat fell vacant after Mr. Marandi quit the BJP and floated his own party. However, the BJP lost the seat in the by-election that followed. Of the 13 UPA seats, the Congress won six, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha four, the RJD two and the CPI one.

Hitting back at the Rashtriya Janata Dal-Lok Jan Shakti Party combine’s decision to contest the lion’s share of seats in Bihar, the Congress struck down a formula already agreed for Jharkhand, roping in the JMM and leaving out the RJD. The RJD struck back by forging an alliance with the LJP. The UPA ranks have also been depleted by the rupture between the Left and the Congress. The Congress now has a tie-up only with the JMM and the two find themselves engaged in “friendly” fights in two seats. As things stand, the Congress-JMM has to contend with the RJD and the LJP in 11 out of 14 constituencies.

In 2004, the NDA was a divided house in Bihar as well as in Jharkhand. The UPA took full advantage of this. This time the UPA has crumbled. It goes without saying that the BJP is looking to avenge its 2004 humiliation and add to the NDA’s overall seat tally. It helps the NDA additionally that the RJD has won over some Congress leaders and fielded them to the discomfiture of the Congress-JMM combine.

The JMM is under stress to hold on to its turf with newer forces seeking to take advantage of the absence of its chief Shibu Soren, who is indisposed and unlikely to campaign. Mr. Soren is contesting both the Dumka Lok Sabha constituency and the Jamtara Assembly by-election.

The JMM chief’s defeat in the Tamar by-election by a greenhorn has cast a shadow on his leadership. Considered the tallest tribal leader in the state, Mr. Soren is straining hard to maintain his hold on the tribals even while bearing the brunt of challenges by smaller outfits such as the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha and All Jharkhand Students Union, among others.

The biggest issue in the election is the political instability of the past five years. The BJP and the rest of the Opposition blame this on the Congress and the JMM. The elections are being held under the shadow of naxalite violence, which has claimed several lives including that of an MP and a legislator in recent times.

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