Will BJP regain Jharkhand by piggybacking on 'Brand Modi' in Lok Sabha polls 2019?

Political pundits are of the opinion that even as the saffron party is trying its best to keep the campaign revolving around brand Narendra Modi, the opposition is trying its best to make inroads and keep the saffron party at bay from the state.

Ranchi: With political parties gearing up for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, 2019, political rough and tumble at play in every corner of the country. While alliances and counter-alliances are being formed and broken every other day in almost all the states of the country, Jharkhand is one such state where the coming together of tribal parties as a united opposition against the ruling Bharatiya Janta Party ( BJP) is likely to present an interesting round of polls.
Political pundits are of the opinion that even as the saffron party is trying its best to keep the campaign revolving around 'BrandNarendra Modi', the opposition is trying its best to make inroads and keep the saffron party at bay from the state.
Senior journalist, Baidyanath Mishra, who has been covering Jharkhand politics for years, said, "With the BJP lacking a charismatic leader in Jharkhand, the party is riding piggyback on the image and popularity of Narendra Modi. If BJP happens to win the election, the credit would go to Modi and if it doesn't the blame should also fall on Modi alone, but that is not what usually happens."

The 14 constituencies of the tribal-dominated state play a very decisive role so far as the battle for Delhi is concerned. In the previous few elections, the popular vote seems to be swinging in favour of the saffron party, with the BJP winning 12 of the 14 constituencies in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. Even in the assembly elections, BJP had won 37 of the 81 assembly seats, it had also managed to rope in six MLAs from the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (JVM) camp, giving the state a non-tribal Chief Minister. In fact, BJP has managed to maintain its hold on Jharkhand for the most time since the state came into existence in 2000.
To counter this saffron wave, Jharkhand is witnessing the formation of a grand alliance, with the Congress, Sibu Soren's Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and Babulal Marandi's Jharkhand Vikas Morcha-Prajatantrik (JVM-P) coming together to put up a fight against the BJP.
Of the 14 Lok Sabha seats in the state, the Congress will contest from seven seats, while the JMM will field candidates from four seats and the JVM-P from two. The last of the 14 seats have been "left" for the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD).
Commenting on this alliance, Mishra said, "This is an alliance formed out of sheer compulsion. This is how things work in politics."
With JVM-P being an arch rival of the JMM for year's now, it remains interesting to see if the alliance bears fruit, and manages to make inroads in the otherwise BJP dominated political constituency.