Hemant Soren trumps Himanta Biswa Sarma’s ‘Bangladesh infiltration’ pitch in Jharkhand | India News – Times of India

NEW DELHI: The BJP, which had relied heavily on Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to lead its Jharkhand campaign, has been decimated in the state. Chief Minister Hemant Soren has led his party Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) to its best ever performance in the state. The JMM-led ruling INDIA bloc has crossed the two-third majority mark in the 81-member assembly.
The Jharkhand verdict is an outright rejection of Himanta Biswa Sarma’s Bengali infiltration pitch, the central theme of the BJP campaign in the state.Sarma, who was in charge of the BJP campaign from the day he was appointed co-leader of Jharkhand along with Shivraj Singh Chouhan, set the tone for a conciliatory attack on Soren’s government by highlighting how Bengali infiltrators became a threat for the tribes in the state.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, party chief JP Nadda, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and all senior leaders of the BJP hammered on the issue of infiltration in their speeches and turned the party’s campaign into a literal carpet bombing on the issue against the JMM led INDIA block government. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav even accused the ruling JMM coalition of turning the Jharkhand capital Ranchi into the Pakistani city of Karachi, alleging that Hindus are victims of atrocities in the state. But as the verdict shows, the people of the state did not believe this story.
Prime Minister Modi said at one of his meetings, “I have traveled around Jharkhand and noticed that the biggest concern here is about infiltrators from Bangladesh. From the data available, we have learned that the tribal population in Santhal has now been reduced to half. We need to protect our tribal families and Jharkandi from this and that should be our first priority.”
Union Home Minister Amit Shah hinted that legislation would be introduced to prevent land transfer to infiltrators. “The tribal population is declining in Jharkhand. Infiltrators grab land by marrying our daughters. We will introduce legislation to prevent the transfer of land to infiltrators if they marry tribal women. We will also form a committee to identify infiltrators to drive them out and reclaim land. seized by them,” Shah said at a meeting.
Chief Minister Hemant Soren avoided a direct confrontation on the issue and instead accused the BJP of waging a polarizing campaign along religious lines. Attacking the saffron camp, he alleged that the opposition party had spent over Rs 500 crore on ‘malicious campaigns’ against him.
Addressing the BJP’s election field in Jharkhand, Congress leader Pawan Khera said, “In Jharkhand, the RSS and the BJP tried to build a laboratory in tribal areas. Himanta Biswa Sarma became their poster boy. The poster boy left no stone unturned there except the people. of Jharkhand completely rejected this kind of politics and once again ensured that a working government won with a good majority.”
Hemant Soren focused on populist schemes like Maiyan Samman Yojna, which offers financial assistance of Rs 1,000 to women in the age group of 18 to 50 years and promised to increase the amount to Rs 2,500 after the results. The state government also waived off farm loans of up to Rs 2 lakh, aimed at benefiting over 1.75 lakh farmers. Soren waived outstanding electricity bills and promised a scheme that would provide free electricity up to 200 units, in addition to introducing social benefits such as universal pension.
The BJP’s bid to rope in former chief minister and senior JMM leader Champai Soren also failed to make any impact. While Champai won the elections, his son Babulal Soren, who was given the BJP ticket as per the terms of the conversion agreement, was defeated by the JMM candidate. Ironically, the BJP did not project a single CM face in the state despite having four former chief ministers in its ranks. None of them were at the forefront of the BJP’s campaign in Jharkhand.
Jairam Mahato’s Jharkhand Loktantrik Krantikari Morcha (JLKM) also played spoilsport by capturing a significant share of votes, hurting the NDA in several seats. Mahto himself won the election from the Dumri Assembly seat.