BJP's infiltration-from-Bangladesh plank falls flat in Jharkhand

The results of the assembly election in the tribal-dominated eastern Indian state of Jharkhand, where an alliance led by regional party Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, stormed back to power, have rebuffed main challenger Bharatiya Janata Party's aggressive campaign on the polarising plank based on alleged infiltration from Bangladesh. What should be worrying the BJP is that it is poised to end up with lesser number of seats than the last assembly elections five years ago while its principal rival the INDIA alliance led by JMM is set to increase its tally substantially.
The infiltration issue formed the mainstay of the top BJP leaders, including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, in every public rally during the month-long campaign in Jharkhand, particularly in tribal-dominated areas.
The BJP leadership had held out the threat of demographic change in the state and accused the JMM-led alliance of laying a red carpet for infiltrators through "land and love jihad." The charge by the BJP was that infiltrators come to Jharkhand to marry tribal girls and take over their land. JMM leader and Jharkhand's youngest chief minister Hemant Soren, 49, countered the charge mainly by saying how the Bangladeshis could make their way into the state when it is the Border Security Force under the command and control of the BJP-led central government guards the frontier with Bangladesh.
Seeking to highlight the infiltration issue, the BJP leaders said if the party was returned to power in the state, its government would form a committee to identify the infiltrators and send them back, enact a law to take back the land from infiltrators and introduce a uniform civil code for all religious communities, except tribals.
Almost a month after the Election Commission announced the assembly poll schedule for Jharkhand, India's anti-money laundering agency Enforcement Directorate on November 12 had carried out raids in multiple locations in the state in a case linked to alleged illegal infiltration of Bangladeshi nationals. The case stemmed from the trafficking of some Bangladeshi women into Jharkhand.
In a report published by The Indian Express on November 11, the daily's journalists, after a tour of a number of constituencies in Jharkhand, clearly suggested there were few takers of the infiltration issue. Quoting local residents in tribal areas, the report negated the perception sought to be created by the BJP that infiltration was taking place on a big scale.
Again quoting the locals, the daily said even assuming the BJP's charge to be partially correct, how could the marriage between local girls and infiltrators take place without the girls' or their family's consent.
Political analysts believe that one reason why the BJP chose the infiltration as its central poll plank is the party was struggling to exorcise the ghost of its past when it had ruled Jharkhand under the leadership of Raghubar Das, a non-tribal, between 2014 and 2019 before the JMM-led coalition regained power.
The Raghubar Das dispensation had set off a huge controversy by promising to repeal the Land Acquisition Act (Jharkhand) Amendment 2017 and the Land Bank Policy. A perception grew that it was aimed at doing away with the Chotanagpur Tenancy Act of 1908 in a bid to ease the process of transferring land from tribals to non-tribals. This spawned the emergence of what came to be known as the Pathalgadi movement by tribals in 2017-18. Sensing the anger among the tribals, the BJP government at that time had to beat a hasty retreat. Adding to the BJP's woes was Das's description of Jharkhand's tribals as 'vanvasis" (forest dwellers) rather than "adivasis" (original inhabitants). The scars left by the last BJP rule in the state appear to be still hanging around the party's neck like an albatross.
It is in the tribal-versus-non-tribal frame that one has to view the clear edge enjoyed by Hemant Soren, a tribal, as against the BJP not projecting anyone as its chief ministerial face in the recent election, giving rise to confusion and scepticism among the tribals. It is in the ambit of identity politics that Hemant successfully played the victim and vendetta card after his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in January this year in a case of alleged money laundering.
Another important factor that went in favour of the JMM-led alliance was its announcement of an increase in the assistance given to women under the "Maiyan Samman Yojna" from Rs 1,000 per month to Rs 2,500 with effect from December. Ground reports indicate this turned out to be a game-changer. Interestingly, women voters outnumbered men in Jharkhand assembly polls, with 68 out of the 81 seats recording a higher female turnout, according to the Election Commission. Of the total of 2.61 crore registered electors, including 1.29 crore women voters, over 1.76 crore people cast their votes. A notable 91.16 lakh women voters participated, surpassing male turnout by 5.52 lakh votes, the Election Commission said.
It is clear that there is no substitute for welfare politics offering easy-to-pluck low-hanging fruits as against grandiose mega plans for development. This is a path shown by the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress government in Jharkhand's neighbouring state West Bengal. This is also a path down which the BJP-led alliance in Maharashtra travelled with enormous success in the recent assembly elections through "Laadli Bahin (daughter-sister) scheme of financial dole and returned to power hands down in India's wealthiest state. While the debate may go on about the desirability of dole politics, Jharkhand has exposed the limitations of polarising plank.
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