Editorial: Jharkhand is mine?

CHENNAI: It’s not certain exactly what point will be proved and laid to rest when the new chief minister of Jharkhand Champai Soren takes the vote of confidence in the state Assembly on Monday. The ruling alliance of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) claims a strength of 47 MLAs in the House of 81, well clear of the majority mark of 41.

The BJP can count on 25 MLAs of its own and three belonging to the AJSU. While the saffron party will surely do its darnedest to poach the numbers it needs, pre-vote indications are that the JMM will pull through.

But would such a rebuff by elected legislators change anything in the way the BJP-led government at the Centre deals with Jharkhand, or any other state government ruled by an opposition party? Today, the Centre stands with its hood spread over every such government, poised to strike like a cobra. Such a posture will continue regardless of any democratic setback or any tenet of the Constitution. Even if it wins, the ruling coalition of Jharkhand will remain on edge for the 11 months left of its term.

There are several reasons why the BJP regime at the Centre covets Jharkhand. With less than three months to go for the general election, the BJP is desperately trying to wreck the INDIA alliance in key states. With the South affording it no purchase, the saffron party’s urgent imperative is to preserve its primacy in UP, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh and Haryana and at the same time pre-empt opposition unity in West Bengal, Bihar, Punjab and Jharkhand.

If this two-pronged strategy is implemented, it reckons a third term is assured for the Modi regime. The signs are promising as of now. Bihar has been successfully flipped with the defection of Nitish Kumar. Mamata Banerjee and the Congress are bickering over seat adjustments in West Bengal, and the Aam Aadmi has slammed the door on the Congress in Punjab. So if the JMM could be split in Jharkhand things would go swimmingly for the BJP.

However, for a party that is confident in the afterglow of the Ram temple pran pratishtha last month and a victory in two key north Indian states recently, the furtive fervour with which it dislodged the government of Hemant Soren in Jharkhand last week is puzzling. Why is the saffron party so desperate despite having so many supposed positives going for it? In spite of being led by a leader of superhuman popularity, why does the BJP seek the support of small parties?

To the tribal people of Jharkhand, this may not appear as political desperation but as avarice for the resources its land is blessed with. The state has huge reserves of coal, iron ore, copper, and uranium, and is home to large swathes of forests, all coveted by India’s corporations. That must have something to do with the fact that no tribal chief minister of Jharkhand has been able to complete a full term in office in the 24 years of the state’s existence.

The only chief minister to do so was Raghubar Das, a non-tribal belonging to the BJP. This attempted coup against a JMM government may well turn into an identity battle with an inflection of religion, money, and pride. If it does, the outcome may not be what the BJP gamed this move for.