bjp-wiped-out-from-jharkhand-s-tribal-heartlands

In a significant blow to the BJP and particularly State President Babulal Marandi, the party lost all five tribal reserved seats—Khunti, Singhbhum, Lohardaga, Rajmahal, and Dumka in the 2024 polls.

 

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, BJP had lost only Rajmahal and Singhbhum while narrowly retaining Khunti.

 

The Congress secured the Khunti and Lohardaga seats, while the JMM, despite its star campaigner and former chief minister Hemant Soren being in jail, won Rajmahal, Dumka, and Singhbhum this time.

 

In Khunti, Union minister and sitting MP Arjun Munda was defeated by Congress's Kalicharan Munda by around 1.49 lakh votes, as reported by the Election Commission.

 

In Lohardaga, Congress’s Sukhdeo Bhagat won by over 1.39 lakh votes. JMM’s Joba Manjhi defeated BJP’s Geeta Kora in Singhbhum by more than 1.68 lakh votes.

Geeta Koda, wife of former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda, had joined the BJP just before the elections and was the lone Congress MP in the state.

In Rajmahal, JMM's Vijay Hansdak won by 1.78 lakh votes against BJP's Tala Marandi, while in Dumka, BJP's Sita Soren, lost to JMM's Nalin Soren with a close margin of 22527 votes. Sita, a three-time JMM legislator, had also switched to BJP before the elections.

 

The outcome represents a setback for BJP and its leadership in the state, as key tribal leaders Babulal Marandi and Union minister Arjun Munda failed to win over the tribal electorate.

 

Political analysts attribute this backlash to several factors. Firstly, the BJP was unable to effectively counter the opposition’s narrative from the Raghubar Das regime that suggested the party would alter the Chotanagpur Tenancy (CNT) Act, threatening tribal land rights. 

 

This created a persistent mistrust among tribal voters towards the BJP.

 

Additionally, BJP workers lacked enthusiasm and grassroots mobilisation, further failing to counter the narrative that Congress and JMM leaders were corrupt—a charge that tribal voters dismissed cynically.

 

The INDIA Bloc leaders, including AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, and Kalpana Soren, wife of jailed former Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren, conducted a vigorous campaign that revitalised the JMM.

 

Insiders also cite BJP’s infighting as a critical factor. In 2019, the NDA won 12 seats in the state while Congress and JMM each secured one. There was a communication gap between state-level election managers and grassroots workers, compounded by the appointment of election in-charges who had no prior electoral experience.

 

While Prime Minister Narendra Modi's name resonated in cities, BJP struggled to address the tribal and Muslim voter equation effectively in rural areas.