Sravasti Dasgupta 
New Delhi: The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) has scripted a comeback in Jharkhand with chief minister Hemant Soren, calling it the beginning of a history of ‘Abua Raj’ and ‘Abua Sarkar’ as he retained his government after trouncing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led NDA to hand the saffron party its second consecutive electoral defeat in the state.
‘Abua Raj’ and ‘Abua Sarkar’ stand for ‘own state’ and ‘own government’.
Soren who was jailed earlier this year in connection with an alleged money laundering case and walked out on bail in June, has, in three months, led the INDIA alliance to victory in 56 seats in the 81-member Jharkhand assembly. The JMM won 34 seats in the state, the Congress won 16, while the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the CPI(ML)L won four and two seats respectively.
While the BJP had run a high-voltage communal campaign centred around the rhetoric of “infiltration” by alleged Bangladeshi immigrants in the state, the party faced its worst performance in the state in a decade and won 21 seats – four fewer than its 2019 tally. Its alliance partners in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) – the All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU), the Janata Dal (United), and the Lok Janshakti Party (Ramvilas) (LJPRV) – won one seat each.
The new entrant, Jharkhand Loktantrik Krantikari Morcha (JLKM), which contested its first assembly polls in the state won only one seat, with party co-founder Jairam Mahato winning from the Dumri constituency.
‘Abua Raj’
Addressing a press conference on Saturday evening, Soren said that his party had successfully passed the test of democracy.
“As you know the elections in the state were fought between the NDA and the INDIA alliance. The INDIA alliance has put up an excellent performance. I want to thank the people of all communities – farmers, women and youth, men and people from all religions and communities-for coming out to vote. This festival of democracy was celebrated by everyone in the state, especially our women voters who participated in large numbers and played a crucial role in strengthening democracy. Those youth who cast their vote for the first time, they too have played their role in strengthening democracy,” he said.
“Abua Raj, Abua Sarkar ka ek itihas Jharkhand mein gadhne ja raha hai (Jharkhand is scripting a history of our own government, our own rule). For the first time, you may have seen such an election, and we have successfully passed the test of democracy,” he added.
The Sorens including Shibu, Kalpana, and Hemant. Photo: X/@HemantSorenJMM.
In its election campaign in the state, the JMM, in a bid to counter the BJP’s rhetoric of infiltration, had rallied around Jharkhandi identity and made ‘Abua Sarkar’ central to its re-election bid.
It was Adivasi anger against the Raghubar Das-led BJP government that brought Hemant Soren to power in 2019. Soren sought to solidify his Adivasi support in the state in this election while reaching out to non-Adivasi groups through universal welfare schemes like the Maiyya Samman Yojana that provides financial assistance to women, Abua Awas Yojana that provides housing to the poor, Sarvajan Pension Yojana. In addition it also sought to consolidate its support among Adivasis with the promise of a domicile policy on the basis of the 1932 Khatiyan Bill, and implementation of the Sarna Dharma Code.
BJP fails Adivasi test as ‘infiltration’ rhetoric yields no results
In the 2024 assembly elections, the BJP has faced its worst performance in the state in a decade. In the 2019 assembly elections, the BJP which contested the election on its own, won 25 seats – down from 37 in 2014.
This despite the BJP centring its poll promises and campaign around tribals by promising the implementation of a Uniform Civil Code that would leave out tribal people. In keeping with its Hindutva claim of “illegal immigrants from Bangladesh are contributing to demographic changes in Santhal Pargana,” it also promised the return of tribal land allegedly occupied by “infiltrators” – the BJP’s preferred pejorative for immigrants. It has also promised no tribal status to children of alleged “infiltrators” who have married tribal people, among others.
The Wire has reported that in Santhal Pargana-the JMM’s stronghold-the BJP’s infiltration rhetoric did not have much resonance among voters.
Of the 18 seats in Santhal Parganas, considered as the JMM’s stronghold, where the BJP centred its infiltration rhetoric, it won only one seat – Jarmundi. In 2019, it had won only four of these 18 seats, while the rest were won by the JMM (9) and the Congress (4).
Of the total 28 Scheduled Tribes (ST) seats in the state, considered crucial due to its adivasi population (which forms about 26% of the state’s population) the BJP won only one – Seraikella – where it had fielded former Jharkhand chief minister Champai Soren who switched over to the saffron party from the JMM prior to the polls. Of these 28 seats, the JMM has won 20 while the Congress has won 7. In 2019, the BJP had won only two of these 28 seats, while the JMM-Congress won 25 and one other was won by an independent.
Its losses in the state came even as it sought to course correct in comparison to the 2019 assembly elections. Unlike in 2019 when it had contested on its own, in 2024 assembly elections, it brought back into the NDA fold former allies like the AJSU, and tall leaders like Saryu Roy of the JD(U)-who left the BJP in 2019 and went on to defeat Raghubar Das as an independent in Jamshedpur East.
While Roy has won his seat, the polls also mark a shift in the state politics as the AJSU’s tally has been brought down to one, with party chief Sudesh Mahato too losing his seat in Silli to the JMM. The results show how the AJSU has now ceded space to the new JLKM led by Jairam Mahato (who won the Dumri seat) and is also a member of the crucial Kurmi Mahato community(which forms about 22% of the state’s population)-formerly considered to be the AJSU’s base.
Leaders that the BJP had brought on board from other parties like former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda’s wife Geeta Koda who had won the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from West Singhbhum as a Congress candidate, and JMM chief Shibu Soren’s daughter-in-law and three-term MLA Sita Murmu Soren – both of whom switched to the BJP ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections – failed to win their seats from Jagannathpur and Jamtara respectively.