A Big Pay-off for BJP’s Aggressive Campaign in Jharkhand

The success of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Jharkhand in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections was enabled by the popularity of Narendra Modi as the prime ministerial candidate, people’s perception of the BJP being the saviour of the nation, and a sense of satisfaction with the performance of its government at the centre. However, most of these factors will not be able to mobilise the voters in favour of the party in the forthcoming assembly elections.

Jharkhand, since its formation, has been a stronghold of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The popularity of Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister and a positive perception of the track record of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government in its last term at the centre, strengthened the position of this party, leading to a landslide victory in the 2019 parliamentary elections in the state. It was almost a repetition of the result of 2014 elections. In both these elections the BJP (in 2019 with its ally All Jharkhand Students Union [AJSU]) won 12 of the 14 parliamentary seats. In seven of these, the incumbent members of Parliament (MPs) succeeded in retaining their seats.