For an effective intervention in the state politics and ensure the party gets some seats at the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, it has to guarantee that a collective and united effort is undertaken. But the observation of Congress general secretary, organisation, K C Venugopal that the state committee’s preparedness for the Lok Sabha elections was reviewed at the meeting attended by leaders from Jharkhand, betrays this urgency.

Venugopal certainly made this remark based on the feedback from the state leaders on the prevailing ground level political realities. It adds to the perception that as in the past this time too Jharkhand Congress leadership has impressed upon its central leaders to start preparing for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections sidestepping Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, the public face of the anti-Narendra Modi politics. The design of the state leaders got manifest with the central leaders held in Delhi on August 16.

Though Congress has some support in the state, it is personality oriented. It is not uniform. It is irony that the state leaders did not make any serious efforts to expand the base and consolidate. The primary reason for the failure of the Congress to build its independent strong support base has been reliance of the Congress High command on the non-tribal leaders, most of them owed their political lineage to Bihar and eastern UP. Some of the tribal leaders who were with Congress enjoyed impeccable and highest order of reputation and image, but they were in the process overshadowed by the non-tribal leaders.

The most unfortunate aspect of the functioning of the state Congress was its leaders were consistently indulging in the nasty factionalism, and maligning and deprecating the political face of the senior leaders. Some of the senior leaders having deep root in the state politics and enjoying their own mass support even preferred to withdraw from the political scene.

Incidentally, the preparation move of the Congress has come at a time when the public face of the INDIA, the opposition alliance, Hemant Soren, the chief minister of Jharkhand is engaged in bitter fight with Enforcement Directorate. It would not be an exaggeration to say that it is a fight for his political survival. The ED had summoned Soren to its Ranchi office on August 14. Though it was the part of the Modi and Amit Shah design to harass and malign him, the insiders maintain that ED was ready with its plan to arrest him on that day after the interrogation. But first refusal of Hemant to face the interrogation and second, Hemant’s absence at the Independence Day celebration would have proved to be highly damaging for Modi and Shah. So the ED dropped the idea. The most important reason that prevailed on Modi and Shah to abandon their action was the fear of Supreme Court turning angry towards them. It was enough for the SC to construe that Modi government was going against its own promises made to the court.

Once the ploy got exposed, Hemant Soren has threatened legal action on Enforcement Directorate for summoning him. He has alleged that summon is actuated by malice and is part of the political conspiracy to destabilise the democratically elected government. Soren is now ready for a showdown with the ED. He also shot off a letter addressed to the ED assistant director, Ranchi office, saying “Your choice of the date does not come as a surprise to the undersigned. You and your political masters are fully aware that being the Chief Minister, the undersigned is scheduled to hoist the National Flag. The summon is a part of the design to besmirch the reputation not only of the undersigned but also the elected government. In fact, central agencies have been targeting the undersigned for over a year now only because the undersigned is not aligned with the political party which is in power at the Centre”.

Soren also reminded the ED of the summon of November 17, 2022, and mentioned that he had already provided all the details. The letter said;“As required by you, the undersigned has duly provided details of all movable and immovable properties owned by him and his family members along with certified copies of the title deeds.... The undersigned has also furnished details of his bank account and PAN No”.

Modi and Amit Shah are using the CBI and ED as coercive instruments against Hemant is also manifest in the revelations made by the letter. Soren’s letter says: “In 2020 the Lokpal directed the CBI to conduct an enquiry on the basis of a complaint filed by BJP MP Nishikant Dubey against the undersigned’s father Shibu Soren. However, in the course of such enquiry, the CBI has wrongfully and illegally carried out an inquiry into the immovable assets owned by the undersigned. It may be in your interest to obtain a report from CBI on the undersigned’s immovable assets.”

Being a major ally of Hemant led alliance government, the Congress must have echoed his concern. On August 16 Venugopal said that “along with our INDIA alliance partners, we will ensure that Jharkhand emerges as yet another state that resists the BJP’s divisive agenda”. INDIA must reject the anti-poor, anti-tribal and pro-rich BJP government at the Centre in 2024, but it must identify with the needs and aspirations of its constituents in the respective states. It certainly cannot be one way traffic.

The Congress leaders may feel embarrassed and angry too at the claim that they never tried to identify with the aspirations of the tribals. They simply paid lip service. The non tribal congress leaders were more dependent on the non tribal support. Jharkhand incidentally has large number of tribal population who shifted from Bihar and eastern UP. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the tribals are homeless in their home state.

The Congress leaders must realise that the party cannot thrive and survive without a robust tribal support. AICC in-charge of Jharkhand Avinash Pande said; “As far as Jharkhand is concerned, according to the directives of the Congress president and the guidance of former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, we will strengthen our organisation. We are ready for the challenge of 2024”. But the question that ought to be answered by the Congress is how they plan to comprehend it.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said preparations of the party's Jharkhand unit for the general elections were reviewed at a meeting and we are committed to a stable government in the state of Jharkhand, and are continuously striving for the betterment of the people. The central leaders must ensure that the state leaders identify with the tribals and common and poor Jharkhandis. Still the fact remains that the Congress leaders have been looking towards the big industries and non tribals those control the economy of the state. The Congress is yet to be “dedicated to Jharkhand's water, forest, land rights and development". It is a constituent of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha-led government in the state but does not share the political perception of the government about the tribals.

The manner in which the ED issue is shaping, it is clear that Hemant is determined to make it a major issue ahead of Lok Sabha election. While this would provide the right opportunity for him to count his performance and achievements, it will put Modi-Shah combine on defensive.

Jharkhand sends 14 members to Lok Sabha and out of these BJP has presently 12 seats under its belt. Electorally Jharkhand is of immense importance for Modi. Obviously, Modi-Shah are gearing to resort to all kind of machination to break the hold of Hemant. The agency has said it has "identified" proceeds of crime relating to illegal stone mining in the state to the tune of Rs 1,000 crore till now. Soren, talking to reporters, said, "If we calculate the yearly revenue from stone chips mining, it would not touch Rs 1,000 crore. How they estimated the figure is beyond understanding. I am going to ED office and want to see how they arrived at that figure."

The fact that the opposition does not share an uniform view and is disunited in its war against BJP, is an open secret for Hemant. Recently addressing the inaugural function of the two-day Jharkhand Adivasi Mahotsav held in Ranchi, Hemant confessed tribal fight against 'destructive and religious fanatics' is not focused as we are divided and disorganised. This is also the reason that the topic of tribal oppression in Manipur is not becoming the topic of the Munda people of Jharkhand. He said “ On this occasion, I would like to appeal to more than 13 crore tribals living in different states of India that the time has come to be united and fight against such forces that are out to control our natural resources and demean our identity and culture.”

Unfortunately, almost all the parties including the Congress, which are active in Jharkhand, claim to work for their empowerment but in reality they nurse divergent notions and perspectives. The Congress has to identify itself with the aspirations of the tribals. Still there is enough time, the Congress instead of acting like the big brother of the Indian politics, must ensure others trust it, and find it really working for the tribals. The CPI has some small pockets of influence. But the party which had big support base among the tribals of united Bihar, has witnessed rapid erosion.

INDIA Alliance has to fight unitedly against NDA under the leadership of JMM Chief Minister Hemant Soren in the coming Lok Sabha elections. Much depends on the Congress strategy during talks on seat sharing. JMM and the Congress have to launch a solid campaign against the BJP along with the other parties to blunt the BJP’s tribal outreach in the state. Hemant with his record in the state government, is still the best guarantee for garnering votes for the INDIA Alliance from the tribals of Jharkhand. (IPA Service)