On 6 June, as he addressed the newly elected BJP MPs, the mood was not exactly joyous though Babulal Marandi tried his best to exhort party workers and leaders. Smiles were faint; body language glum at the event.
“This is a historic success. We should not rest now. A strong government has to be formed in Jharkhand as well,” the former Union minister said, asserting that the public made the NDA the biggest alliance in Jharkhand by giving 9 out of the total 14 parliamentary seats.
But the facts are out there — the vote share of the BJP is down from about 51.6 percent in 2019 to 44.60 percent in the Lok Sabha elections.
From 2019 onwards, by-polls have been held on seven assembly seats of which the JMM clinched Dumka, Madhupur, Dumri, and Gandey. The latest at Gandey took place in June in which Kalpana Soren, wife of jailed JMM leader Hemant Soren, defeated the BJP candidate by 27,000-plus votes.
Bermo and Mandar were retained by the Congress, while the BJP’s ally AJSU Party snatched Ramgarh from the Congress.
What has added to the chatter is a letter — dated 8 June — of former Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha Kariya Munda to PM Narendra Modi expressing his anguish over the Lok Sabha results in Jharkhand.
“At this stage of my age, I am hurt by the present condition of the organisation in Jharkhand and the defeat of BJP in five tribal seats including Khunti, the birthplace of Birsa Munda. I would like to convey this concern of mine to the national president (J.P.Nadda), too. This concern of mine is about the tribal identity and culture of this state, which you can understand,” the 89-year-old wrote.
An eight-term MP from Khunti reserved for tribals, Padma Bhushan awardee Kariya Munda has been an eight-term MP from Khunti. He has worked with BJP giants Atal Bihari Vajpayee, L.K. Advani, and Murli Manohar Joshi.
In 2014, the BJP replaced him with Arjun Munda in Khunti. Arjun Munda had won then, but lost this time from the seat by a margin of 1.49 lakh votes.
Before Jharkhand went to the polls, the BJP was confident of winning all the 14 Lok Sabha seats but when the results came out, it lost five tribal seats of Khunti, Singhbhum, Lohardaga, Dumka, and Rajmahal.
“The party, which has been preparing for elections for a long time, has failed to implement its action plans on the ground at the time of the actual battle. During the elections, the series of meetings and brainstorming continued, but the grassroot workers were confused in understanding the strategy. Many star campaigners were also surprised to see the situation,” a BJP functionary told ThePrint.
BJP’s Geeta Koda, who lost at Singhbhum by 1.68 lakh votes, conceded that greater effort should have been made at the ground-level to reach out to the tribals. “We are sad and worried about the results because the JMM-Congress have been successful in misleading the tribals on issues like reservation and the Constitution,” she told ThePrint.
Though he lost by a margin of 1.39 lakh votes in Lohardaga, BJP ST Morcha national president Samir Oraon put up a brave face, saying that the BJP is the biggest party with eight seats. “There is always victory and defeat in elections. We are constantly engaged in organisational work. The BJP is the biggest party. Tribals are now understanding the deception of the JMM-Congress,” he told ThePrint.
Also Read: Down from 3 to 0, what led to BJP’s whitewash in Jharkhand’s tribal seats in LS polls
‘Spent cartridge’?
Marandi was the chief minister from November 2000 to March 2003. A four-time former MP, he gradually drifted away from the BJP and launched the JVM(P) in 2006. Currently, he represents the Rajdhanwar assembly segment from his home district Giridih.
In the 2019 assembly elections, the BJP lost both its hold on tribal segments and the government in Jharkhand. Of the 28 seats reserved for tribals, the BJP won only two.
After the JVM(P)-BJP merger in 2020, he was elected the leader of the legislative party in BJP in February that year, but was not granted the status of leader of opposition for three years due to a pending defection case against him.
However, Babulal Marandi started touring the districts and blocks and mobilising the cadres as well as questioned the functioning of the Hemant Soren government and highlighted its alleged irregularities.
On 4 July last year, he was made the BJP state chief, a role which was seen as an opportunity to play on the front foot in view of the Lok Sabha elections.
“No doubt, Babulal Marandi has a long experience of handling organisation in the party. He has been the most vocal about governance and alleged corruption in the JMM-Congress government. But the election results show that his political stature and influence has faded,” political analyst Deepak Ambasth told ThePrint.
“Also, the role of some leaders who were given preference in the frontline of the organisation should be reviewed. In this regard, Kariya Munda’s letter should not be taken lightly.”
On other hand, BJP Legislative Party leader Amar Kumar Bauri remained upbeat over the party’s chances in the state elections. “Along with the state party president, we have contested the elections with full strength. The NDA won nine seats and we have lead on 50 assembly segments. We will surely win upcoming assembly elections,’’ Bauri told ThePrint.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the BJP had taken a lead on 57 assembly seats, but it was reduced to 25 seats in the assembly election held a few months later.
Dumka has been the political workplace of Babulal Marandi, says Suman Kumar, a political science lecturer who keeps a close eye on the politics of Santhal Pargana.
“In 1998, Marandi defeated Shibu Soren here but the BJP lost the seat this time. Earlier, the BJP faced defeat in the 2020 Dumka assembly by-election. It appears that Babulal Marandi’s influence and hold among the Santhals has dwindled. Factionalism in BJP has also been discussed in the elections,” he told ThePrint
The tribal-dominated Santhal Pargana and Kolhan regions account for 32 assembly seats, and are crucial to gain power in the 81-member Jharkhand Assembly. In 2019, the BJP had won only 4 seats there.
Jharkhand is set for polls in November-December, and the ruling JMM-Congress combine has emerged as a big challenge for the BJP.
JMM veteran Stephen Marandi was blunt in his assessment, saying that the BJP leaders should look in their own closet before blaming others.
“The BJP and the central government have failed to understand the issues and sentiments of the tribals and Jharkhandi. As for Babulal Marandi, his acceptance among the tribals is over and he is proving to be spent cartridges for the BJP. The BJP will face a crushing defeat in the assembly elections,” he told ThePrint.
“What was the intention behind the BJP’s slogan ‘Abki Baar 400 Par’? Was there no attempt to tamper with the SPT-CNT Act in Jharkhand?”
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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