PM Narendra Modi reaches out to tribals, women in first Jharkhand rally

Accuses ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha-led government of corruption

The 28 seats reserved for Scheduled Tribes (STs) and the state’s women electorate, it seems, hold the key to elections to the 81-member Jharkhand Assembly, scheduled for November 13 and 20. 

 

On Monday, in his first public meetings in the state after the announcement of the Assembly poll schedule, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke of the participation accorded to STs in key positions at the Centre and in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled states. He accused the ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM)-led government of corruption, but refrained from specifically mentioning either Chief Minister Hemant Soren or his family, an acknowledgement that the family, including patriarch Shibu Soren, remains respected among the STs of the state.

 

 

The PM also stressed his government’s pro-women policies, and the BJP’s manifesto for the Jharkhand Assembly polls, including the “Gogo Didi” scheme, under which women would get a monthly allowance of Rs 2,100 each. He said a BJP government in the state would ensure free education for women for nursing courses, which would allow them to work in Australia, New Zealand and European countries. Recently, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, “when he met me” during his India visit, praised the work ethic of nurses from our country, Modi said.

 

According to the 2011 Census, tribals comprised 26.21 per cent of the state’s population, with a significant presence in 21 of its 24 districts. In the 2019 Assembly polls, the BJP could win only two of the 28 ST reserved seats, although its vote share on these seats was a healthy 33 per cent, marginally lower than the JMM’s 34 per cent. The JMM won 19 of these seats. The BJP’s loss was then attributed to it appointing Raghubar Das, a non-tribal, as the state’s CM in 2014. In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP failed to win any of the five seats reserved for STs in the state, with the JMM accusing the saffron party of being anti-tribal because of the imprisonment of sitting CM Hemant Soren on charges of money-laundering. 

 

In Chaibasa, Modi said the BJP picked its tribal leaders to be the chief ministers of neighbouring Odisha and Chhattisgarh. He said several governors were tribals. At the Centre, key ministerial portfolios were with the BJP’s tribal leaders, including Jual Oram, Durgadas Uikey, Savitri Thakur and Sarbananda Sonowal, the PM said, adding that the Congress and its associates opposed Droupadi Murmu’s election as the President of India. He urged the gathering to punish the JMM-Congress alliance for “insulting” Champai Soren by removing him as the CM.

 

At his rally earlier in the day in Garhwa, the PM flagged the recent remarks of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge where he had advised his party leaders in Karnataka to be judicious in their announcement of welfare schemes. Modi alleged that the Congress has bankrupted Himachal Pradesh, Telangana, and Karnataka. The PM said a BJP government in the state would provide “suvidha”, or convenience, “suraksha”, or security, “samriddhi”, or prosperity, and “sthirtha”, or stability, which were “Modi’s guarantees”.

 

The PM alleged that the Congress was conspiring to “snatch” reservations meant for tribals and hand them over to its "vote bank" of “infiltrators”, who were trying to usurp tribal land. "Infiltrators are snatching your daughters, grabbing land and devouring your bread," he said, claiming that efforts were being made to change Jharkhand's demography. Modi said if the BJP is voted to power in the state, it will bring stringent legislation to return land grabbed by infiltrators. He described the JMM-led alliance as a “Gushpaithiya Bandhan” and a “Mafia ka Ghulam”. "It is Roti, Beti, Maati Pukar to make BJP-NDA Sarkar in Jharkhand," he said.

 

Listing out the promises in their manifesto, the PM said a BJP government would give unemployment allowances of Rs 2,000 to the youth, gas cylinders for Rs 500, with two free cylinders provided during festivals, and fill 300,000 vacancies. He said local youth would receive Rs 5,000 per month under a PM package while interning with major companies. If the BJP is voted to power, he pledged that paddy would be procured at Rs 3,100 per quintal, and forest produce would be purchased at minimum support prices.