Ranchi/Dumka: JMM led INDIA bloc clinched power for the second time on Saturday based on a stellar performance across the 28 ST and nine SC reserved seats in the state.
JMM and its allies routed the BJP from the 28 ST seats. While the INDIA bloc won 27 of them, former CM Champai Soren emerged as the lone tribal legislator for the BJP. Likewise, the INDIA bloc delivered a strong performance across the nine SC reserved seats. While the BJP won three and LJP (Ram Vilas) won one, Congress, RJD and JMM clinched the rest.
This year's performance of the INDIA bloc was better than 2019 where the BJP had won two out of the 28 tribal reserved seats (Khunti and Torpa). This year, however, the BJP lost both the seats to JMM.
Out of the 28 ST seats, JMM won 21 seats while Congress won six and BJP won one.
The INDIA bloc's strong performance across the seats indicated that the BJP's politics did not resonate among the tribal electorate. Nalin Soren, the incumbent Dumka (ST) Lok Sabha seat who represented Shikaripara (ST) assembly segment until this year's Lok Sabha election, claimed that the tribal electorate rejected the BJP's politics of communalism and hatred in this election.
"Several factors resulted in a good show. While there was the benefit of the social welfare schemes such as Maiyya Samman and Savitri Bai Phule Yojana, there was considerable discontent among the electorate because the BJP led government at the Centre did not act on the Sarna Code.
We had sent a resolution from the state assembly four years ago, but the Modi government remained reluctant. A false narrative was created around infiltration to divide the tribal votes, but it did not work. Today's results proved that the tribal community has rallied strongly behind Hemant Soren," he told TOI in Dumka.
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