Jharkhand Polls: BJP Relies on Anti-Incumbency

Of the 38 seats where polling is scheduled for November 20, 18 seats are in Santhal Pargana. During the last Assembly polls in 2019, the BJP failed to win any seats. Besides Santhal Pargana, the saffron party managed to win only two of the 28 seats reserved for the Scheduled Tribes, which again favoured the JMM-led alliance in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

In its attempt to reverse the BJP’s poll prospects in the Santhal Pargana, the party is aggressively highlighting the demographic changes and citing the Congress-led Karnataka government’s “appeasement politics” to claim that the same will happen in Jharkhand, where tribal land and rights will be given to the INDIA bloc’s “votebank.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA leadership has been asserting protection of “mati, rotis beti” (land, food and women) of the tribals during campaigning. Also, the BJP cadres have been reaching out to the tribals, informing them about the benefits of various BJP-led NDA government schemes for the tribals, including the icon status for Bhagwan Birsa Munda. However, not taking any chances, the BJP is also wooing the non-tribal votes, which form a major portion of the party’s votebank.

The party is highlighting how the JMM-led government has “failed” on various fronts and citing examples of Congress-ruled Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh to assert how “misgovernance” has marred the two states' development prospects.

The RSS is also actively involved in the state, with its senior pracharaks appointed as coordinators in every Assembly seat. The Sangh pracharaks are highlighting how the INDIA bloc will give benefits to its "votebank" like it is doing in Karnataka by "snatching" it from the tribals.

During the last Assembly polls, the BJP had won 25 seats, the JMM 30 and the Congress 16 seats.