Jharkhand polls: All eyes on Sarna, Mission, Sadan

RANCHI: While 20 Jharkhand assembly seats go to polls in the second phase on Saturday, all eyes are on the ‘Sarna’ (tribal), ‘Mission’ (Christian) and ‘Sadan’ (others) voters.
Since the opposition parties mainly focused on the local issues relating to “Jal, Jungle aur Zamin” (water, land and forest) during their campaign in the last two phases, it is now time for ruling BJP to test its own popularity among tribal and OBC voters. BJP is no longer considered to be a party of "Sadan" as in mainly non-tribal after its five-year-rule.

In the 2014 assembly polls, BJP got full support from the OBC voters. Thus, the party campaigners, including Home minister Amit Shah, continued to make promises to OBC voters to fulfil their demand of increasing their quota if BJP returns to power. BJP is also seeking votes in the name of giving a stable government. Raghubar Das is first CM to complete his full tenure in Jharkhand.

Since BJP' alliance with local political outfit Sudesh Mahto-headed All Jharkhand Students' Union (AJSU) broke in the run up to the polls, it has naturally become a tough task for BJP to keep its OBC votes intact. AJSU, which has fielded over 50 candidates, has already strengthen its organisational support base.

This party is now eyeing a new area like the Santhal region. Not surprisingly, BJP has avoided targeting AJSU during campaign. It still sees a chance for a post-poll alliance with AJSU. The challenge for AJSU is to make its presence felt across the state. The fate of JMM-Congress alliance mainly depends on their efforts to unite Voters of "Sarna" (tribal) and "Mission" (Christian) in order to put up a better show. Christian voters are considered to be supporters of the Congress in Jharkhand.