Jharkhand Elections: Illegal Immigration From Bangladesh Becomes A Key Issue For BJP As INDI Alliance Bets On Anti-Bihari Rhetoric

On 25 July 2024, Jharkhand politics witnessed the formation of a new narrative when a senior politician from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) raised the demand for carving out a union territory from the state.

Nishikant Dubey, member of parliament (MP) from Godda, proposed that a new region comprising Santhal Parganas of Jharkhand, Malda and Murshidabad of West Bengal and three Seemanchal districts of Bihar namely Araria, Kishanganj and Katihar should be declared as union territory.

Dubey wants to conduct a national register of citizens (NRC) exercise in these regions. He is worried about Muslims from Bangladesh, Malda and Murshidabad infiltrating the region, which is making Hindu villages go empty. Dubey added that Muslims have captured lower rungs of governance through marriage unions.

“The woman who contests Lok Sabha or zilla panchayat polls, her husband is a Muslim. There are at least 100 village heads in the state whose husbands are Muslims,” said Dubey

Meanwhile, the ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) has slammed the idea while BJP has officially distanced itself from the statement.

A few days after Dubey’s proposal of union territory, Shilpi Neha Tirkey, Congress leader representing the Mandar assembly constituency tried to twist the issue by raising the issue of Biharis in Jharkhand.

Tirkey complained that no one bats an eye when people from Bihar settle and even become Mukhiya in Ramgarh.

Essentially, Tirkey said that people illegally crossing the Bangladesh border should have the same rights as Biharis who are Indian citizens and take up legal routes to settle in Jharkhand.

Tirkey’s irrational parallel between Biharis and Bangladeshis has been seconded by Bandhu Tirkey, her father and working President of Jharkhand Congress.

However, Congress spokespersons appearing on television debates seemed to distance themselves from the statement by terming it as her personal remark.

Tirkey’s statement and related controversy did help Congress and JMM in deflecting the issue of illegal immigration changing the demography of Jharkhand.

As election dates approach, the BJP has been raking up the issue through parliament, assembly and even election officials.

On 16 July 2024, a memorandum in this regard was submitted to the chief electoral officer. Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Himanta Biswa Sarma, two senior leaders in charge of the party's poll strategy in Jharkhand have also raised the issue.

Any doubt about whether the BJP will make demography change an election issue or not has been cleared by Chouhan and Sarma. The BJP is going ahead with it and Dubey’s statement hints that the party's senior leadership is eager to implement NRC in the state — a longstanding demand.

However, it is not going to be easy for the party.

Its alliance partner, the All Jharkhand Students Union Party (AJSUP), has remained silent on the issue, leaving a big question mark over whether it will support the agenda.

Secondly, Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal United (JDU) is also trying to become part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Jharkhand.

If it succeeds, BJP is certain to face friction from JD(U) due to Nitish Kumar clinging on to his party’s pro-Muslim image — bordering appeasement.

Compared to the NDA, the Indian National Developmental Inclusive (INDI) Alliance is more united on this front. Time and again, JMM has been trying to skirt the issue around infiltrators occupying the lands of tribals.

Even when the Jharkhand High Court (JHC) pushed it on illegal immigration, the Hemant Soren government submitted an improper affidavit, presumably to delay the scrutiny till elections. For Soren, any comment by JHC on ground realities of illegal infiltration risks being utilised by BJP during elections.

JMM is aligned with Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), both of which gain immense electoral benefits from Muslim appeasement. That is why, even if the JMM wants to protect tribals from infiltration, it is bound by the coalition compulsion of the INDI Alliance.

That is possibly why Tirkey tried to deflect the issue onto Biharis. She even said that the BJP should address the issue of Biharis first, before discussing illegal immigrants.

In the past even Soren himself has attacked the idea of cultural presence of Biharis in Jharkhand polity by stating that Bihari languages like Bhojpuri and Magahi should not have a place in Jharkhand.

The same language issue was raised by Jairam Mahato. Riding on the popular support, he quickly formed a new party named Jharkhand Loktantrik Krantikari Morcha (JLKM).

Mahato has his own version of NRC. He wants to implement the 1932 Khatiyan (land settlement) Policy. A prevailing sentiment in Jharkhand is that only those settled in the state by 1932 can be termed Jharkhandi.

Mahato demands that in domicile and employment, preference should be given to those whose families were settled in Jharkhand before 1932. One preference includes reserving grade three and four government jobs only for locals — as per the 1932 definition.

Mahato’s demand alienates more than 90 per cent of the Muslim population settled in Jharkhand, the majority of whom are illegal immigrants. For Biharis, it will have an impact on their job prospects.

Mahato’s main contention is Jharkhandi vs outsider — which encompasses illegal immigrants too. However, during the Lok Sabha election, he had shown a biased tilt towards Muslim appeasement by toeing the INDI Alliance line on BJP discriminating against Muslims.

Jairam Mahato has emerged as a strong third front in the battle between the NDA and INDI Alliance.

It is now certain that the Jharkhandi vs. outsider issue will be a significant factor in the upcoming elections.

However, it remains unclear whether the BJP will successfully build a narrative against the INDI alliance over illegal immigration from Bangladesh, or if the Congress-JMM alliance will effectively counter this with its anti-Bihari rhetoric.