‘One Vote, Seven Guarantees’: How the INDIA Bloc Counters BJP’s Promises in Jharkhand

Sandipan Talukdar

With Jharkhand going to vote on the 13^th and 20^th of November to choose its sixth assembly, the campaign heat is felt in the state involving PM Modi. With Assam CM Himanta Biswa as the campaign in charge of the Jharkhand elections, he was seen on the cameras as well as in public rallies to emphasize the identification of the ‘Bangladeshi Infiltrators’ in case BJP is voted to power. This has been seen as a remark purported to contain a communal tinge by the opposition which led to a complaint to the Election Commission against Mr. Sarma.

The BJP’s manifesto, named the ‘Sankalp Patra’, released on Sunday (3^rd November) in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, also highlights the infiltrator issue, which is one of the main election planks of the party. The manifesto however has other promises to make including freebies, providing jobs to 5 lakh youths including the government sector, gas cylinders at rupees 500 and emphasizing on securing Tribal identity and culture. The scheme named ‘Gogo Didi Yojana’ proposed by BJP aims to provide 2100 rupees per month to all women in Jharkhand.

As a counter to BJP’s campaigns that hover substantially around the infiltrators and protecting the tribal identity, the manifesto of the INDIA bloc proposes some concrete steps. The joint manifesto, named as ‘Nyay Patra’ was released on 5^th November in the presence of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, CPI (ML)’s Subhendu Sen, RJD’s Jay Prakash Narayn Yadav and CM Hemant Soren of JMM.

Domicile Based on 1932 Khatiyan Bill

One of the main points of the Nyay Patra is to implement a domicile policy based upon the 1932 Khatiyan Bill. This entitles 1932 as the cut off year to determine the domicile, meaning whoever is listed in the 1932 Khatiyan (land records) will be considered as locals of Jharkhand and for jobs as well.

The Jharkhand Definition of Local Persons and For Extending Consequential, Social, Cultural, And Other Benefits To Such Local Persons Bill, 2022 is known as the 1932 Khatiyan Bill. It was passed in the Jharkhand assembly despite contestation. Notably, the Bill was first passed in November 2022 and was returned twice by the governor’s office.

Releasing the manifesto, CM Hemant Soren alleged the centre to have sit over the issues, but reiterated that if JMM comes back to power then those will be passed again.

Sarna Dharma Code and Other Promises:

 The other promise is the ‘Sarna Dharma Code’, which sought a separate religious identity for the tribal population in 2021 census which is yet to be held. The opposition bloc also proposes reservations for OBC, SC and STs at 28%, 12%, and 27% respectively.

Other among the seven guarantees that the opposition brings in its manifesto is upgrading the existing ‘Mukhyamantri Maiya Samman Yojana’ increasing the 1000 rupees per month to underprivileged women within the age group 18-50 years to 2500 per month. It came as a counter to BJP’s promise of giving 2100 per month to women. The INDIA bloc had to promise to provide gas cylinders at 450 rupees countering what BJP proposed.

Jobs to ten lakh youths and a health insurance upto 15 lakhs are also in the bag comprising of INDIA alliance’s poll promises. On a similar line, the opposition bloc has made a promise to increase the MSP (Minimum Support Price) for paddies from 2400 to 3200 with a proposal of increasing the MSP by 50% for other products like imli, mohua and saal.

Interestingly, when Hemant Soren questioned the UCC (Uniform Civil Code) proposal of the centre, Home Minister Amit Shah declared in Jharkhand that the tribals will be kept out of the ambit of the UCC.

The electoral battle is still open and how far the ‘Seven Guarantees’ of the INDIA bloc will motivate Jharkhand voters in comparison to a plethora of proposed schemes and freebies by BJP will determine on how far the opposition can penetrate into the voters and counters BJP’s aggressive campaigns with a focus on the infiltrators.

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