The Bharatiya Janata Party's campaign focused on religious polarisation and ran a high decibel campaign on claims of "infiltration" by Bangladeshis.[5][6] The party pushed the narratives of love jihad and land jihad with the claim that "infiltrators" were marrying tribal women and taking over tribal lands causing fall in the tribal population.[7][8][9] The campaign characterised Muslims as infiltrators.[10][9]
One video advertisement depicted a "horde of Muslims" including children moving into the house of a Middle-class family sporting a JMM flag was pulled down later by the ECI upon receiving complaints but after it had been widely circulated on social media.[11] The video advertisement continued to be available on the BJP Jharkhand's verified Whatsapp channel and pushed by Twitter accounts which regularly engage in disinformation.[12]
According to ground reports, even people who said they would vote BJP were skeptical of these claims, and it had caused apprehensions against the campaign particularly among tribals in the Kolhan region for reasons of impact on communal amity and being cast as part of the broader Hindu community.[5] These claims were described as a bogey by civil society organisations which attempted to counter the narrative on the ground by bringing data to people that the fall in tribal population is not large and caused by factors like out-of-state migration of tribals for jobs.[6]
Tribal Land Issues
Land rights of tribals continued to remain an core issue for the election.[11][13][14] The previous BJP government led by Chief Minister Raghubar Das had introduced the policy of "land banks" in 2016 after failing to dilute the SPT and CNT Acts due to protests by tribals in which one person was killed in police firing.[11][13][5] The land banks policy combined with the dilution of protections for tribals in the LARR Act by the Raghubar Das government in 2013 had led to increasing occurrences of takeover of tribal land by corporations and contractors over the years.[11][13]
The BJP moved away from its usual strategy of pitting Christian and non-Christian tribals and instead to appeal to tribals attempted to portray Muslims as the "diku", a term generally used by tribals to refer to moneylenders, traders and administrators coming from outside the state and belonging to dominant caste groups.[11] The party relied on Arjun Munda and Madhu Koda in tribal areas but their leaders faced significant pressure over the land issue.[5]
Questions were also raised against the incumbent JMM over the issue.[11][13] JMM had near the end introduced a bill to repeal the policy after urging from their coalition partner CPI(ML)L but the Governor had not given his assent to it.[11] JMM campaigned on a platform of tribal culture, land and identity including a pledge to implement land registers to determine domicile status based on a 1932 survey.[14]
Populist Schemes
Election campaigns have focused heavily on populist welfare schemes. The JMM government’s Mukhyamantri Maiya Samman Yojana, which provides Rs 1,000 per month to women, was countered by the BJP's Gogo-Didi Yojana, promising Rs 2,100.[15] In response, the JMM increased its scheme’s payout to Rs 2,500, effective December 2024. The BJP has also pledged subsidized LPG cylinders, monthly stipends for unemployed graduates and postgraduates, and extensive job creation programs.[16][17]
State vs. Centre on Fund Allocation
The JMM has accused the BJP-led Central government of withholding funds owed to the state, with Chief Minister Hemant Soren demanding the release of Rs 1.36 trillion in dues from coal companies.[18] Soren has emphasized that the demand is for rightful state funds, not a special grant.[16][19][17]
Corruption Allegations
Corruption charges have taken center stage, with BJP leaders highlighting Soren’s alleged involvement in a land-related money laundering case.[20][21] The JMM has countered these accusations by asserting that the BJP is targeting Soren unfairly because he is a tribal leader.[16][17]
In the first phase of voting on November 13, 2024, electorates exercised their franchise across 43 Assembly constituencies spread over 15 districts contested by 638 candidates. The overall voting percentage was 66.65%. While 69.04% of women voters came out to press the EVM button, the percentage for men was 64.27% while just 31.02% of the third gender voted. In 37 of the 43 constituencies that voted in the first phase, the female voters had a higher turnout than males.
The maximum voting percentage was recorded in the Kharsawan Assembly with 77.32%. The next two seats were Baharagora (76.15%) and Lohardaga (73.21%). However, Ranchi saw the lowest polling with just 51.5% of the electorate participating in the election process.
The second phase on November 20 saw voting taking place in 38 Assembly seats. The number of candidates is 528. The polling percentage in 38 constituencies of Jharkhand was 68.45%.
According to a Lokniti post-poll survey, the INDIA alliance’s Maiya Samman Scheme, which initially provided ₹1,000 and later increased to ₹2,500, garnered support from 47% of registered women voters, particularly in rural areas. In contrast, the BJP’s Gogo Didi Scheme, offering ₹2,100, found greater appeal among urban women voters. Overall, women showed stronger backing for the INDIA alliance (45%) compared to the BJP (38%), with rural women (48%) and tribal women (60%) favoring INDIA significantly. The BJP, however, performed better among urban and non-tribal women voters. A notable outcome was the BJP securing only one ST-reserved seat, reflecting tribal dissatisfaction attributed to issues such as changes in tenancy laws, messaging perceived as undermining tribal identity, and Hemant Soren’s incarceration. Women voter turnout was remarkably high at 70.46% (91.16 lakh), surpassing men’s turnout of 65% (85.64 lakh), with the gender gap widening compared to the previous Lok Sabha elections.[32][33]
Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended his congratulations to the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) on its electoral victory, to which Chief Minister Hemant Soren responded with gratitude, thanking the Prime Minister for his wishes.[37][importance?] Chief Minister Hemant Soren lauded the state's democratic engagement. Soren also expressed gratitude to the people for their overwhelming support and underscored the cultural and political vision encapsulated in the phrase "Abua Raj, Abua Sarkar" (our state, our government), which he asserted as a commitment to the ideals of self-reliance and local empowerment.[38]
Following the Jharkhand Assembly election results, incidents of violence and vandalism come up, signaling the presence of deep political divides. A person named Imam Mirza in Mohammadpur village was alleged by the BJP to have been attacked by JMM workers for supporting BJP. In Barkagaon, the Congress candidate Amba Prasad alleged that her car came under attack from supporters of the newly elected BJP MLA Roshan Lal Choudhary after the result. Prasad showed images of her car with a bashed in windshield to support her assertion and questioned their motives.[39]
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