Ranchi: The BJP suffered a massive defeat in all five seats reserved for the Scheduled Tribes in Jharkhand but managed to secure nine seats, including Giridih, contested by its ally All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU).
In 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the party had registered a massive victory in 12 out of 14 seats in the state.
This time, the BJP lost several of its high profile seats, including Khunti where Union Minister Arjun Munda was pitted against Kalicharan Munda of the Congress. Munda was defeated by a huge margin of 1,49,675 votes while in the 2019, he had managed to secure the seat by a narrow margin of 1,440 votes.
The BJP also suffered a significant defeat in Dumka where Sita Murmu (Soren), daughter-in-law of JMM chief Shibu Soren was contesting. She recently joined the BJP and was contesting against veteran JMM leader Nalin Soren. She was defeated by 22,527 votes.
Next, the BJP was defeated in Singhbhum, where it fielded Geeta Koda. In 2019 Lok Sabha elections, she had contested from this seat on a Congress ticket and won. But, this time Joba Manjhi of the JMM won the seat by a margin of 1,68,402 votes.
BJP's debacle in five tribal seats is being seen as a major setback for the party, which vigorously campaigned with the “400 paar” slogan and claimed that it would easily sweep all 14 seats in the state.
Experts believe that BJP’s significant defeat could be due to growing discontent in the tribal belt over former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren’s incarceration and their dissatisfaction with the party in the state. The public sentiment also suggests that the Lok Sabha results might affect the BJP’s prospects in the assembly elections slated to be held by the end of this year.
According to political analysts, ED action against Congress minister Alamgir Alam also failed to impress the people of Jharkhand.
Sources said that the BJP, to improve its performance in the assembly elections, may launch an early campaign. They pointed out that the party may also review its organisational structure and appoint more booth-level workers.
Sources said BJP’s strategy would be to win over maximum number of tribal and rural voters that are currently under the JMM or the Congress. Talking to ETV Bharat on condition of anonymity, a BJP insider said that the review of the party's debacle in five seats will be held immediately after the formation of government at the Centre. He said that the party’s strategy would be to reach out to people in the rural areas and inform them about the Centre’s policies.
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