Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren on Thursday hinted that his party Jharkhand Mukti Morcha would field candidates in the Jungle Mahal, a move that can deal a blow to BJP’s hopes of consolidating the tribal vote bank in its favour in the Assembly elections.
“Every fight has its first step and today it is the first day for Bengal. I will come again and the movement for the tribal people will continue here. Our party will be with the adivasis and poor people of the region and you should be prepared for the elections,” said Soren while addressing a gathering of around 5,000 in Jhargram’s Jamda circus ground in West Midnapore.
The BJP strategy to grab power in Bengal rests heavily on the 41 seats in the Jungle Mahal, which is dominated by tribal voters. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP had managed to dent the tribal vote bank of Trinamul by leading in 35 of the 41 Assembly segments in the Jungle Mahal districts of West Midnapore, Bankura, Jhargram and Purulia.
Hemant’s announcement at his first political rally in poll-bound Bengal is likely to hit the BJP’s plan to consolidate the tribal vote bank in its favour.
“We are ready to field around 40 candidates in Assembly polls this year mainly in the Jungle Mahal areas where tribal people remain deprived,” said Samir Kumar Mohanty, JMM MLA from Jharkhand’s Baharagora constituency and party’s observer for Bengal.
JMM’s decision to contest in the Bengal polls has not gone down well with chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who accused Hemant of trying to play politics in Bengal.
“I felt bad today that Hemant Soren came to Bengal to do politics. He should manage Jharkhand first before coming to Bengal. He came today as he wanted (to field) candidates for his party,” said Mamata.
Sukhamoy Satpati, BJP’s Jhargram president, said: “The JMM will not be able to impact our tribal vote bank.”
At the Jhargram rally, Soren also said the JMM would fight for inclusion of tribal areas in Bengal under the Fifth Schedule of Constitution.
Additional reporting by Animesh Bisoee in Jamshedpur