Jharkhand’s Current Third Front Looks In Tatters; Possibility Of A New Third Force Emerging

Dates for the Jharkhand assembly elections have been announced. The 81-seat assembly will go for voting in two phases on 13 and 20 November 2024. Results will be out on 23 November.

The main contest in Jharkhand is between two alliances.

One is the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) — consisting of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), All Jharkhand Students Union Party (AJSUP), Janata Dal (United) (JD(U)), and Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) (LJP(RV)).

In the wake of an impasse on seat-sharing, it is still being speculated whether JD(U) and LJP(RV) will contest the election under the NDA banner or not.

The NDA has to confront the renewed Indian National Democratic Inclusive (INDI) Alliance, which comprises Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), Indian National Congress (INC), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), and the Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation.

The INDI Alliance is currently in power and had a relatively successful run in the 2024 General Election (GE), winning all tribal seats.

It is mainly relying on tribal dignity and a slew of freebies (announced just before elections), while the NDA is focusing on showing how Hemant Soren’s minority appeasement is hurting tribals.

Meanwhile, during the 2024 General Election, a leader named Jairam Mahato had emerged and was considered a potential key pillar of the third front in the assembly elections.

He is often called Tiger Mahato due to his bold actions like spending nights in cemeteries. He had founded a new unit called the Jharkhandi Bhasha Khatian Sangharsh Samiti (JBKSS).

As the name implies, Mahato's party prioritises issues related to domicile, language, employment, and examinations. He advocates for giving preference in government jobs, schemes, and contracts to people who have been in Jharkhand since before 1932.

The year 1932 marks the first modern land survey by the British, carried out for mining and industrialisation purposes.

In the 2024 General Elections, Jairam’s party fielded candidates in eight seats under the independent quota. In Giridih, Ranchi, and Hazaribagh, his candidates finished third, with Jairam himself securing over 3.47 lakh votes from Giridih.

Later, Jairam registered his party as Jharkhand Loktantrik Kranti Morcha (JLKM). His party largely consists of two main sections — advocates of Jharkhandi-first and the Kurmi-Mahatos, who comprise about 25 percent of the population.

However, in September, JLKM received its biggest setback ever when Sanjay Mehta, deputy president of JBKSS, resigned from the outfit. Mehta contested the Lok Sabha elections from Hazaribagh and had an impressive showing with nearly 1.58 lakh votes.

In a recent podcast, he revealed that there was a plot within JBKSS to prevent him from emerging as the second line of leadership in the party. Whenever he wanted to speak on stage, disturbances were created by his own party members.

Vijay Kumar Singh, spokesperson of the party, said that Mehta wanted to contest the assembly election from one of the Mandu, Barkagaon, or Ramgarh seats, but Mahato was not willing to fulfill this demand, so he left the party.

Soon after leaving Mahato, Mehta formed his own JBKSS, with the full name as Jharkhand Bachao Kranti Sena Samiti.

Interestingly, Mehta’s outfit emerged at a time when Mahato’s JLKM is facing charges of becoming overly aggressive and undemocratic in its ideological stance. Allegations of disrespect towards those perceived as non-Jharkhandi are continuously being levelled.

When one of this writer’s friends asked his neighbour not to throw trash in front of his house, he was told to leave Jharkhand, as the place belongs to their community. Others have complained of being beaten by these radicals.

The perception is that Mahato himself is responsible for much of this. His fiery speeches often teeter between political rhetoric and sociopathy. For instance, ETV Bharat reported from one of his speeches that he called for throwing corrupt officers down Parasnath Mountain.

Recently, in one of his speeches at Deoghar, Mahato was accused of placing the Sarna towel under his feet. The news spread like wildfire, and tribal leaders organised effigy burnings in protest.

Even his ticket distribution is now clouded in controversy. In Sindri, Mahato has given a ticket to Usha Devi, about whom the cadre says she opposed Mahato and other candidates during the Lok Sabha election.

The party's Central General Secretary Shankar Mahato said that if the decision is not retracted, he will contest as an independent and defeat Devi.

Similarly, on the Gandey seat, the decision to give the ticket to Akil Akhtar instead of Rajesh Yadav has become a contentious issue, lending legitimacy to Sanjay Mehta’s claim that JLKM has become a party of syndicates.

There is also a possibility that two NDA constituents, namely JD(U) and LJP(RV), could emerge as a third front. Sources say that the BJP is not on the same page with the seats demanded by both parties.

JD(U) is reportedly demanding seats in the double digits, while the BJP’s counteroffer is two to three seats at best - accommodating its own rebel Saryu Roy in the process.

LJP(RV) has also expressed its preparedness on 40 to 45 seats.

With this scenario currently, a significant third-front in the Jharkhand Assembly elections cannot be ruled out.