Jharkhand’s Santhal Pargana is turning into a focus point as political parties are gearing up for the Lok Sabha polls slated for next year.

Both the ruling JMM-Congress-RJD combine and the BJP-led NDA have become active in strengthening the grip over their respective areas of influence across the state but Santhal Pargana is drawing special attention.

While the BJP is trying to retain the two parliamentary seats it had won in the region in the 2019 general elections and also wrest the other it lost, the JMM and the Congress that together outnumbered the BJP in the Assembly polls, held later the same year, are also equally eager to retain their hold in the region.

In 2019, of the three Lok Sabha seats in Santhal Pargana, the BJP won Dumka and Godda and lost Rajmahal to JMM. In total, the party had bagged 12 of the total 14 Lok Sabha seats in the state.

Apart from Rajmahal, they lost Chaibasa in the Kolhan region to the Congress.

But in the Assembly polls later that year, the BJP could win only 4 of the total 18 seats in the Santhal Pargana region, while the JMM won 9 and the Congress 5.

The Poreyahat Assembly seat was won by Pradeep Yadav who contested as a candidate of Babulal Marandi’s now defunct JVM (P) but later joined the Congress.

As expected, both camps have become active in consolidating their positions in the region by holding meetings and rallies that are often addressed by senior leaders of those parties.

Chief minister Hemant Soren visited Santhal Pargana a number of times and also addressed many meetings and rallies in the region that also covers his Assembly constituency, Barheit, the latest being the one organised at Bhognadih in Sahebganj district on June 30 on the occasion of Hul Divas to commemorate the Santhal rebellion.

Since Soren had to postpone one of his recent visits to Deoghar because his chopper could not fly in inclement weather, he did not take any risk this time and undertook an overnight train journey to reach Bhognadih on time.

The newly appointed BJP state unit president Babulal Marandi and his immediate predecessor Deepak Prakash also often visited Santhal Pargana for consolidating their party’s position there.

Both camps are optimistic about their electoral success in Santhal Pargana.

“We are hopeful of retaining both Dumka and Gooda seats and also winning Rajmahal,” outgoing BJP state president Prakash said when contacted, adding they had been concentrating on the job for quite some time now.

Party workers have overcome the shock they felt when the party lost power in the state in 2019 and are now working with renewed vigour, he claimed.