New Delhi, Nov 23 (IANS) Hemant Soren, son of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) patriarch Shibu Soren popularly known as ‘Guru ji’, overcame odds and endured 149 days of incarceration to have the final laugh in the Jharkhand Assembly elections, boosting his image as a tall tribal leader and proving himself as the deserving heir to his father’s political legacy.
The victory may appear unexpected to many but Hemant Soren, 49, was confident of his return to power after the elections which, in his own words, were the “toughest ever” he has ever fought.
As the tribal leader gets ready to take oath as the Chief Minister for the fourth time, analysts agree that with the decisive victory in the current Assembly elections, Hemant Soren’s stature on the national stage is bound to grow bigger. His earlier stints as CM were from July 2013 to December 2014, from December 2019 to February 2024 and from July 2024 till now.
The rising national-level tribal star repulsed a BJP offensive which, to many, appeared to be potent with its anti-infiltrator pitch and save “Roti, Beti, Maati” slogan. He also managed to win the backing of Muslims, and OBCs and divert voters’ attention from anti-incumbency and issues like joblessness.
Hemant Soren, who along with his wife held 200 political rallies for the Assembly elections, showed self-belief and trusted his master stroke of financial assistance scheme for women, Maiyya Samman Yojna, for proving pollsters wrong.
Besides shouldering the load of the INDIA bloc campaign, Hemant Soren appears to have managed to improve the JMM’s tally over the last election. The 81-member Assembly is likely to see the JMM end up with over 30 legislators, out of the 55 INDIA bloc legislators – the most decisive mandate ever in the state.
Apart from carrying forward the legacy of his father and senior party leader Shibu Soren who, at one point of time, was known to carry the trump card to save or pull down governments in New Delhi, Hemant Soren also seems to have in his blood the art of turning jail stints into tsunami of electoral sympathy.
If it were criminal allegations that sent Soren senior to prison, it was the money laundering allegation that forced Hemant Soren to spend six months in jail – he was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on January 31, 2024, before getting bail on June 28. But, the common factor between the father-son duo has been their ability to bounce back from prison cells to capture voters’ imagination, riding high on waves of tribal pride or adivasi asmita.
After getting bail, Hemant Soren even posted a picture of a “prisoner’s stamp” on his arm on his 49th birthday on August 10 – a filmy reminder of what Amitabh Bachchan immortalised in “Deewar”.
The only similarity between the Assembly election results in Jharkhand and Maharashtra remains the electoral magic of financial assistance schemes for women. Both the JMM and the Mahayuti seem to have got rich dividends for their women-friendly money transfer schemes launched just before the elections.
Among the dissimilarities between the two state elections have been the results yielded by the Hindutva pitch of the BJP. Jharkhand voters did not desert their fight to save their tribal identity despite the best efforts by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, whereas in Maharashtra Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Ek Rahenge, Toh Safe Rahenge” struck a chord with voters.
In Jharkhand, the JMM’s strategy of not countering the NDA on its allegations of infiltration and sticking to the agenda of defending tribal pride worked wonders. Tribals, who form a third of the state’s population, continued their pattern of rejecting the NDA, as they did on the five ST-reserved seats in the Lok Sabha elections.
Hemant Soren single-handedly managed to demolish the BJP’s army of tribal leaders like Babulal Marandi, Arjun Munda, and Champai Soren. The party’s attempts to present its pro-tribal face by making a tribal as a Chief Minister in Chhattisgarh and Odisha also failed to convince Jharkhand voters.
Whether it was his jail term that proved to be a turning point or his “outsider versus insider” slogan, Heman Soren has little time to dissect the just-concluded electoral battle as he looks forward to better his father’s record by taking oath as CM for the fourth time. He, however, credits his father, who took oath as CM thrice, for mobilising the tribal voters even without physically joining the campaigning.
The road ahead for Hemant Soren is not going to be easy as he would need to coordinate with the Central government to rid the mineral-rich state of illegal mining and boost industrial development in the land-locked state.
–IANS
rch/uk
Disclaimer
The information contained in this website is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by BhaskarLive.in and while we endeavour to keep the information up to date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.
In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use of this website.
Through this website you are able to link to other websites which are not under the control of BhaskarLive.in We have no control over the nature, content and availability of those sites. The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.
Every effort is made to keep the website up and running smoothly. However, BhaskarLive.in takes no responsibility for, and will not be liable for, the website being temporarily unavailable due to technical issues beyond our control.
For any legal details or query please visit original source link given with news or click on Go to Source.
Our translation service aims to offer the most accurate translation possible and we rarely experience any issues with news post. However, as the translation is carried out by third part tool there is a possibility for error to cause the occasional inaccuracy. We therefore require you to accept this disclaimer before confirming any translation news with us.
If you are not willing to accept this disclaimer then we recommend reading news post in its original language.
