As Jharkhand enters the general election with four reserved Lok Sabha constituencies spanning nine districts and 23 Assembly constituencies going for polls on May 13 during the fourth phase, there is a close fight between the BJP and INDIA bloc candidates.

With official campaigning as per the Election Commission directive coming to end on May 11, the four constituencies Khunti, Singhbhum and Lohardaga (all ST reserved seats) and Palamu (SC reserved) were pit-stops of political heavyweights, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah (holding a rally
at Khunti on Friday), Congress former president Rahul Gandhi and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav.

Political observers of Jharkhand feel that INDIA bloc leaders have managed to score brownie points in terms of political discourse in these economically backward constituencies.

Among the four Lok Sabha seats, the BJP had won three (Khunti, Lohardaga and Palamu) in the 2019 polls while the Congress had managed to wrest Singhbhum in the form of Geeta Koda, wife of coal scam-tainted former chief minister Madhu Koda, who shifted allegiance to the BJP in February this year.

“It was quite interesting listening to the speeches of political heavyweights especially, Prime Minister and home minister. Prime Minister harped on communal and national security issues while Amit Shah ji on Friday raised the issue of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. However, there was no mention of the jal, jungle, jameen and Sarna dharma code, which would have struck a chord with the predominant tribal populace. However, BJP with its strong cadres can spring a surprise leveraging on national issues,” said Ranchi-based senior political columnist and writer Faisal Anurag.

“In contrast, INDIA bloc leader Rahul Gandhi along with JMM leader Kalpana Soren and chief minister Champai Soren raised issues of tribal sentiments with Rahul ji even promising first rights of tribals over natural resources and a separate Sarna dharma code in the decadal census. In the age of social media these speeches have reached villages and panchayats and might give their candidate an advantage in the tribal belt,” added Anurag.

“Even RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav addressing a rally for party candidate (Mamata Bhuiyan) in Palamu raised the issue of employment, reservation for Dalits and loan waiver for farmers. Palamu has an agrarian economy and due to lack of irrigation facilities is facing mass migration for decades,” claimed Anurag, an expert on tribal subjects.

Amit Shah on Friday while addressing a rally for BJP candidate and incumbent Union agriculture and tribal welfare minister Arjun Munda from the Khunti constituency slammed the Congress for “raising question mark” on Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and asserted that every inch of it belonged to India and no force can snatch it.