New Delhi: Following the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) defeat in Jharkhand Assembly polls last month, party functionaries in the state have cited several reasons as being behind the loss—disconnect between senior party leaders and grassroots workers, an inability to counter the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha-led government’s Maiya Samman scheme for women, overconfidence among party leaders, and internal sabotage.
BJP workers also feel that the state’s election in-charge Himanta Biswa Sarma and co-incharge Shivraj Singh Chouhan focusing more on national issues hurt the party’s chances, giving an edge to the JMM, which centred its campaign on local issues.
The BJP held a review meeting at its state office over 30 November and 1 December to analyse the drubbing it got in Jharkhand.
The JMM-led alliance won 56 seats in the 81-member assembly, while the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) managed only 24 seats. The BJP’s own tally fell to 21 from 25 in 2019.
“This entire Bangladeshi infiltration narrative became the focal point of our election agenda when JMM was focusing on the women voters through its Maiya samman scheme. We should have definitely raised the issue as one of the many issues in the state and not as the only issue. Lack of coordination between the local workers who were working hard on the ground and senior leaders also surfaced during review meetings,” said a BJP functionary to ThePrint on condition of anonymity.
“Even as the JMM and (Jharkhand Loktantrik Krantikari Morcha’s) Jairam Mahto were highlighting local issues, especially those connected to tribal identity, our focus was more on national issues. It seemed like our campaign was being run solely by national leaders, and local leadership was not in sync with it,” said a second BJP functionary.
Another one said that Sarma had become the face of the campaign in a state where tribal sentiments run high. “He was seen doing all press conferences and was visible on TV screens and newspapers as the main leader. We should have highlighted our local leadership much more. Of course, as in-charges they have a role to play, but it seems like there was overemphasis on them at times,” said the leader.
Some of the BJP candidates also cited “internal sabotage” as a major reason behind their defeat.
Speaking to ThePrint, a senior BJP leader acknowledged receiving reports of infighting and negligence among party leaders but emphasized that this is a time to stay united and focus on monitoring the government’s actions. “BJP workers must maintain their morale,” he stated.
According to a state BJP leader, the review meeting was attended by all the party candidates and senior BJP leaders, including B.L. Santhosh, National General Secretary (organisation); Laxmikant Bajpai, State-In-charge for Jharkhand; and BJP state unit President Babulal Marandi. During the meeting, one-on-one feedback was taken from the candidates who lost the elections.
Speaking to ThePrint, Babulal Marandi stated that the issues were discussed in detail during the meeting to identify corrective measures.
According to him, primarily two reasons have been raised by party leaders and workers, including the Maiya Samman scheme, the impact of which he said was felt among women voters. The other reason, he said, was the “below-par performance of allies”.
“After every election a review meeting is held. Despite not being able to win the elections, our overall vote has increased and that shows the faith people have in the BJP. We will take corrective measures on all the issues that have been raised,” he told ThePrint.
“The BJP’s vote percentage has increased in this election. We got nearly 9 lakh votes more than last time. We will now be launching the membership campaign from next week and reach out to more and more people in the coming few days,” he said.
While some BJP leaders were unhappy with the roles played by national in-charges Sarma and Union minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, others praised them highly.
“They toiled day and night and managed the entire campaign. The BJP had an inkling that the Maiya Samman scheme and entry of Jairam (Mahto) could make the situation worse and efforts were made to bring him to our fold but it could not materialise,” explained the second leader quoted above. “Had the in-charges not worked so hard, we would not have even got the seats we managed to win. They tried hard to bring all the leaders together and, despite facing hurdles, worked hard. But it was a difficult state to win.”
Some BJP candidates described the arrest of Hemant Soren as a case of “bad timing,” which ultimately served as a sympathy boost for the JMM.
“Some of the candidates pointed out that BJP MPs should have worked in sync with them, which did not happen. Many did not even campaign for them,” explained another functionary.
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Internal discord surfaces
Following the results, the party’s internal discord has surfaced, with several district heads and district in-charges blaming their assembly and divisional in-charges for the defeat.
In addition to the Maiya Samman scheme, party leaders have also blamed their ally, the All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU), for failing to secure support from the Kudmi community against JKLM’s Jairam Mahato, who emerged as a key player in the elections. Mahato’s JKLM played a significant role in several Kudmi Mahato community-dominated assembly seats, undermining the AJSU’s prospects in at least six constituencies and negatively impacting the BJP in at least 10 others.
Some candidates also cited non-cooperation of MPs from their area as a reason, while some accused AJSU party workers of working for the JMM candidate.
During the meeting, the defeated candidates said that BJP’s Gogo Didi scheme announced before the elections could not compete with the ‘Maiya Samman Yojana’ of the India Alliance. Announcing five major poll promises, the BJP had introduced the Gogo Didi scheme, promising Rs 2,100 per month to all women in the state.
Following the review meeting, a detailed report will be submitted to the central leadership of the party.
“Apart from the review, where right from candidates to other party functionaries have pointed out the reasons behind the poll defeat, a report card of all the party MPs is also being prepared. The performance of many MPs has been termed as disappointing. Union Cabinet Minister and Koderma MP Annapurna Devi had the best performance and Godda MP Nishikant Dubey performed the worst,” said the second functionary.
“One-on-one feedback was also taken from the candidates who lost the elections. During this time many cited the reasons for their defeat and most of them blamed the internal-fight and sabotage by their own party leader,’ explained one of the party functionaries quoted earlier.
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)
