As widely expected, the recent elections in Jharkhand once again threw up a hung Assembly. None of the pre-poll combinations could come anywhere near the majority mark, with the Congress-JVM combination securing 25 seats and the BJP-JD(U) combine managing only 20. In terms of seats the NDA thus emerged the biggest loser. In the previous Assembly, the BJP had as many as 30 members while its ally JD(U) had 6. Even in the recent Lok Sabha elections in May 2009, the BJP had won as many as 8 of the 14 LS seats in Jharkhand. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had campaigned quite extensively in Jharkhand, promising Bihar-type ‘development’ and ‘good governance’ in Jharkhand if NDA were voted to power. The electorate of Jharkhand did not obviously show any particular interest in these claims and promises.

Yet, the post-poll arithmetic of Jharkhand has yielded an NDA government with a difference. The BJP-JD(U) combine has joined hands with the JMM and AJSU to form a government under Shibu Soren’s stewardship. The AJSU with its six MLAs has gained the most in the process, with six MLAs it has got as many as three ministers in the cabinet including the status of Deputy Chief Minister for its leader Sudesh Mahato. Compare this with the BJP’s share – with 18 MLAs, the BJP has got four ministers, including, of course, another Deputy Chief Minister. This is perhaps the first occasion when there will be as many as two Deputy CMs in a government, that too in a cabinet of 12 in an 81-member State Assembly!

The BJP and the JMM both have demonstrated time and again their ability to excel in political opportunism and there is no reason to believe that they cannot stay together for long in their current experiment. But at the same time, we must also recognize the elements of tension and instability that are built into this coalition for historical, social as well as political reasons. The BJP in Jharkhand is still predominantly perceived as a non-tribal party and is largely identified with traders and money-lenders and other sections of the rich and the powerful in Jharkhand society, and the JMM has been traditionally ranged against precisely such forces. The JMM will also have to contend with the rising graph of the AJSU which has carved out a large support base among the socially powerful Kurmi caste and is quite popular especially among the youth.

Back in power, the BJP would of course like to develop Jharkhand as a laboratory for its divisive communal politics and repressive rule. Even if the ‘Gujarat model’ appears a bit too remote for the BJP to replicate in Jharkhand, neighbouring Chhattisgarh and Orissa,and the BJP’s own past record in Jharkhand give us a clear idea of how the party would like to use its grip over state power – a combination of Salwa Judum type ‘governance’ and Kandhamal-type communal violence. The JMM on the other hand cannot really be completely insensitive to these concerns. Shibu Soren’s offer to talk to the Maoists – most ex-Maoists who contested the Assembly elections did so on the JMM’s ticket and the official Maoists too are reported to have helped the JMM in many areas – seems to have already peeved the BJP.

During the trust vote debate in the Assembly, the RJD displayed a soft corner for the new government with RJD MLAs walking out before the confidence motion was put to vote. Most of the single-MLA parties also extended support to the government. The opposition space is therefore divided between the Congress-JVM combine at one end and the lone CPI(ML) MLA at the other. The first major challenge before the new government will be to hold the long-pending panchayat elections. As a state with considerable tribal population and large areas governed under the Fifth schedule of the Constitution, panchayat election in Jharkhand should comply with the provisions of the Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Areas (PESA) Act, 1996. Yet there has been and still continues to be a lot of resistance to the application of PESA from social and political forces entrenched in the non-tribal parts of the state. Indeed, the idea of Jharkhand evoked much less opposition in erstwhile united Bihar than what PESA continues to evoke within Jharkhand.

The CPI(ML) has all along been in favour of holding panchayat elections in the state in accordance with the PESA provisions and the party has already launched a mass signature campaign drive demanding early panchayat elections. The signature campaign drive was launched on 16 January, the fifth anniversary of the martyrdom of Comrade Mahendra Singh and is scheduled to go on till 23 March, the martyrdom day of Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh.

Apart from the demand for panchayat elections, the signature campaign is aimed at mobilizing public opinion in favour of five other key demands of the people of Jharkhand, viz., (i) institution of a judicial tribunal for a thorough probe into the issue of corruption, bringing under the judicial scanner all ministers and bureaucrats since the state was formed in November 2000, (ii) cancellation of all MoUs signed by previous governments, nationalization of Jharkhand’s mineral resources and adoption of an industrial policy that will give top priority to Jharkhand’s development and employment needs, (iii) implementation of the BJP’s poll promise of supplying foodgrains at 1 Rupee per Kg, and regularization of the BPL list by including all rural as well as unoorganised sector workers, (v) strict implementation of the Santhal Pargana and Chhattisgarh Tenancy Acts (SPT and CNT Acts) as well as Forest Rights Act, 2006 to stop tribal land alienation and ensure the full land rights of tribal and other traditional forest-dwelling people, and (v) urgent augmentation of irrigation facilities and development of agriculture to free Jharkhand from the permanent spectre of famine.

Box

CPI(ML) Performance in Jharkhand Assembly Elections

The party had fielded 33 candidates in the Assembly election. The total votes polled by party candidates have been over 240,000 (2.3%). In terms of seats, the party has succeeded in retaining the Bagodar seat in Giridih district for the fifth time in a row while finishing second in two adjacent constituencies (Dhanwar and Jamua (SC) in the district. Party candidates also put up impressive performances in Mandu (3rd, approx. 26,000 votes) in erstwhile Hazaribagh district, Bhavnathpur (3rd, nearly 21,000 votes) in Garhwa district and Gandey (4th, approx. 19,000 votes) in Giridih district. In Giridih district, the party polled 18% votes, ahead of parties like the JMM, BJP and RJD and second only to the Congress-JVM combine which has 27% votes. The party’s performance has also been notable in Garhwa district, with party candidates polling more than 35,000 votes (including, Bhavnathpur apart, Garhwa (nearly 7,000 votes) and Bishrampur (over 7,500 votes) constituencies).

Apart from Giridih, Hazaribagh-Ramgarh and Garhwa-Palamu regions, the party failed to win significant votes in other districts and regions of Jharkhand. In the coming days, the party will have to pay urgent attention to improving its strength in industrial districts like Dhanbad and Bokaro, and in the tribal regions of Gumla, Lohardaga and Singbhum.

Among other Left forces in Jharkhand the Marxist Coordination Committee led by Comrade AK Roy polled more than 100,000 votes (regaining its traditional Nirsa seat in Dhanbad) while the CPI polled nearly 90,000 votes and the CPI(M) close to 50,000.

Box

Mass Rally on Mahendra Singh Martyrdom Day

January 16 2010 marked five years of the martyrdom of Comrade Mahendra Singh.
The chargesheet recently filed by the CBI in the Mahendra Singh murder case fails to mention the key accused who had been named in the FIR: then SP of Giridih district Deepak Varma and then State Industries Minister and BJP MLA Ravindra Ray, whose nexus with the coal mafia and role in several murders and scams was being exposed by Comrade Mahendra Singh.

On the 5th martyrdom day of Comrade Mahendra Singh, a massive rally was held at Bagodar, Giridih. The rally, addressed by CPI(ML) General Secretary Comrade Dipankar Bhattacharya. The martyrdom day was also observed at other district headquarters. On that day, a mass signature campaign was launched (see accompanying write-up for details).