New Delhi: The BJP’s Parliamentary Board appears all set to plump for Jharkhand’s first ever non-tribal chief minister, as the party crossed the simple majority mark in the state on Tuesday’s counting day. Powerful tribal leader Arjun Munda pulled out of the race for chief minister on Thursday, paving the way for the possible installation of his bete noir and five-time MLA Raghubar Das to head a BJP-led government in Jharkhand.
According to top party sources, Arjun Munda’s loss in these elections has made Das’ candidature almost certain, although the names of other leaders like Neelkanth Munda and Barkubar Jagrai were also making the rounds, though not with as much strength as Das’.
“Some also feel that Saryu Rai, whom Prime Minister Narendra Modi referred to as his ‘good friend’ at an election rally could also be considered, but Das enjoys the confidence of both Amit Shah and the PM and has strong backing from the RSS,” said the source.
Sanjay Kumar of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) disagrees. “We have to notice that the JMM didn’t do as badly and former CM Hemant Soren won his election. It is not the case of tribal politics shifting ground, but a reaction to years of instability, and the fact that there is a national mood in favour of the BJP.
The BJP has been harnessing their presence at the Centre to promise voters in various states that same party rule in the Centre and at the state level was better for development,” he says. Others however are not so sure. Activists and analysts who have worked in the area for a long time say that tribal identity politics and electoral politics have become very distant from each.
No major party whether tribal or otherwise has addressed issues of land and domicile and real concerns over demographic shifts in these regions, said a senior academic who has worked in the area.
Bureau Report
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