PATNA: Stakes are high for all the major political parties in the Jharkhand Assembly election scheduled to be held in five phases from November 25-December 2, 9, 14 and 20. For many years the state has been ruled by unstable coalition governments marked by misgovernance and instability.
How ever, the political situation in the state has changed in the past couple of months as the BJP won 12 of the 14 Lok Sabha seats in the Parliament elections held earlier this year. Jharkhand is perhaps one of the major states where the ‘Modi wave’ has left an indelible imprint.
The BJP leaders are counting on Prime Minster Narendra Modi’s charisma in the forthcoming Assembly polls also, especially after the BJP’s spectacular performance in the recently concluded Assembly elections in Maharashtra and Haryana.
Senior BJP leader and former Chief Minister Arjun Munda said, ”People of Jharkhand will vote for stability and development this time. Our party will get clear majority this time”. The BJP had a clear dominance in 56 Assembly segments in the Lok Sabha elections and party has indicated that it may go solo in the forthcoming Assembly polls. Like Haryana and Maharashtra, the saffron party may not announce any chief ministerial candidate before polls.
On the other hand, the alliance of the JMM, Congress and others suffered a setback when senior Congress leader Pradip Kumar Balmuchu indicated that party’s decision to go under the leadership of JMM in the polls may prove counterproductive.