Smaller parties look to make big dent in Jharkhand and Maharashtra

In Jharkhand, smaller players, such as Jairam Kumar Mahato's JKLM and in Maharashtra, Prakash Ambedkar-led VBA, Raj Thackeray's MNS, and Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM, are key players in several seats

Smaller regional outfits have emerged a cause for concern for the two principal rival blocs in the Jharkhand and Maharashtra Assembly elections.

 

In Jharkhand, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which includes the All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU), Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), and Janata Dal (United), is hoping to upstage the INDIA bloc ruling alliance, comprising the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), Congress, and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).

 

However, a fledgling regional outfit, the Jharkhand Lokantrik Krantikari Morcha (JKLM), believes it will surprise both alliances. The JKLM, led by Jairam Kumar Mahato, or “Tiger” Mahato as his supporters call him, is making a debut by fielding candidates in 69 of the 81 seats.

 

Jairam and his associates had in 2021 launched the Jharkhandi Bhasha Khatiyan Sangharsh Samiti, which campaigned for reserving jobs in Jharkhand for the sons and daughters of the soil. They have also demanded the implementation of the 1932 Khatiyan (land settlement) policy, which is to make the 1932 land records as the basis for verifying the state’s domicile and employment policies.

 

In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the JKLM, not yet registered as a party, fielded eight candidates (of the 14 seats in Jharkhand) as independents. The candidates, including Jairam who contested from Giridih and garnered 27.46 per cent of the votes polled, finished third in six constituencies. The other five constituencies were Ranchi, Hazaribagh, Dhanbad, Singhbhum, and Koderma.

 

In a recent interview with a news portal, Jairam said he relied on crowdfunding to contest the Lok Sabha polls, connecting Rs 25 lakh, mostly from Jharkhandis working outside the state. Unlike the BJP, which defines “outsiders” as migrants from Bangladesh settling in Jharkhand, Jairam claims that anyone who is not a “Jharkhandi” is an outsider, and they are monopolising the employment and economic opportunities in Jharkhand.

 

The JKLM’s primary support base is the Kudmi Mahato community, estimated to constitute 15–20 per cent of Jharkhand’s population. It is an Other Backward Class (OBC) community, but seeks Scheduled Tribe status. The Kudmi Mahatos also form the principal support base of the AJSU, a BJP ally.

 

In Maharashtra, apart from the two principal alliances, the Mahayuti and Maha Vikas Aghadi, smaller players, such as Prakash Ambedkar-led Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA), Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), are key players in several of the state’s 288-seats. Lok Sabha member Asaduddin Owaisi heads the AIMIM.

 

In the 2019 Assembly polls, the MNS contested 101 seats, but could win just one with a vote share of 2.25 per cent of the total votes polled. The VBA contested 236 seats, couldn’t win any but secured a vote share of 4.57 per cent. The AIMIM contested 44 seats, winning two and received 1.34 per cent of the votes. These parties are again in the fray with the VBA contested on 199 seats.