Going by the past track records of politicians from the Santhal Pargana region who have quit the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, Jama MLA Sita Soren — who is also the daughter-in-law of JMM founder Shibu Soren — may have an unfruitful journey ahead.
Ms. Sita Soren — widow of Mr. Shibu Soren’s eldest son Durga Soren, who died in 2009 — joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday. The split was reportedly triggered by her differences with Kalpana Soren, who is married to the JMM founder’s middle son Hemant Soren, former Jharkhand Chief Minister. Political experts say that the BJP hopes to pierce the Soren family bastion of Santhal Pargana by recruiting a family member.
However, a number of prominent leaders who have previously joined the BJP after quitting the JMM have found victory elusive in the JMM’s stronghold, including Suraj Mandal, Hemlal Murmu, Stephen Marandi and Simon Marandi.
Defeat for former JMM leaders
Mr. Mandal was once a big name in Jharkhand politics, having been the MLA from Podaiyahat and the MP from Godda, and was considered the right hand of JMM patriarch Mr. Shibu Soren. In 2000, however, after his expulsion from the JMM due to his anti-party activities, he formed the Jharkhand Vikas Dal; in 2018, he merged his party with the BJP. In the six years since, he has yet to taste electoral success.
The late Simon Marandi, who was also very close to the JMM founder, was a JMM MLA from Littipara and MP from Rajmahal. However, unhappy with the party’s ticket choices, he joined the BJP and contested the 2014 Assembly election from Littipara on a BJP ticket, losing to the JMM’s Anil Murmu. After Dr. Murmu’s sudden demise, Marandi rejoined the JMM in 2017 and won the byelection. In the State’s 2019 Assembly poll, his son Dinesh William Marandi took over the seat, winning on a JMM ticket.
There is also the case of veteran tribal leader Mr. Hemlal Murmu, who returned to the JMM in 2023, after a gap of nine years. The former MP had resigned from the party in 2014 due to a tussle over tickets. He contested both the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections on a BJP ticket, from Rajmahal, Barhet, and Littipara, but lost to the JMM candidate each time.
BJP’s tribal strategy
Nevertheless, the BJP is betting on Ms. Sita Soren bucking the losing trend, and giving it a key win in Santhal Pargana. It has its eyes not only on the upcoming Lok Sabha election, but also the State Assembly poll slated to take place later this year.
In the last Assembly polls, the BJP struggled in the Santhal Pargana region, which comprises 18 seats, of which 16 lie in the districts of Deoghar, Godda, Sahebganj, Pakur, Dumka, and Jamtara. The BJP will also be trying to retain the two parliamentary seats of Godda and Dumka, which the party won in the region in the 2019 Lok Sabha election, losing the Rajmahal seat to the JMM. The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) had won 12 out of 14 Lok Sabha seats in Jharkhand in 2019; however, later that year, it lost the State election, with the BJP winning just four Assembly seats out of the 18 in Santhal Pargana.
