BJP's Jharkhand Assembly Polls setback: Saffron surge fizzles out as tribal state resists
Maharashtra Election Results
Jharkhand Election Results
Bypoll Election Results
Like in Maharashtra, the BJP made an early deployment of leaders, including union minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma in the state to manage its poll preparations. It also got some senior leaders from the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha switching sides to the BJP.
But the tribes-dominated state ensured a further decline for the party compared with 2019 when it had won 25 seats on its own. In the latest election, the BJP could win only 21 seats, while three allies won a seat each, taking the NDA tally to 24 in the 81-member assembly. The JMM-led India alliance won 56 seats, retaining power.
Absence of a credible local face in the party once again came haunting for the BJP, as it couldn't project a leader who has a statewide mass appeal against JMM's Hemant Soren. The leader of opposition in the state, Amar Kumar Bauri, lost his election. The party had to bargain hard to manage rebels to ensure the victory for state BJP president Babulal Marandi.
Just ahead of elections, the BJP poached several big tribal leaders from the JMM and Congress, including former CM Champai Soren, Geeta Koda, Sita Soren and Lobin Hembrum, to attract tribal votes. However, barring Champai Soren, no other BJP candidate could win in any of the 28 ST-reserved seats. Also, Champai Soren was the only leader who crossed over to the BJP and won. On the other hand, senior BJP leader Louis Marandi who
