As a new Kudmi leader rises in Jharkhand, parties taken by surprise, keep a watchful eye

The recently concluded Lok Sabha elections saw a marked shift in Jharkhand politics, with the state’s dominant Other Backward Class (OBC) Kudmi community shifting towards a new leader and setting the stage for an interesting battle in the Assembly polls later this year.

Once a favourite of the All Jharkhand Students Union Party (AJSUP), a BJP ally, Kudmis moved towards Jharkhand Bhasha Khatiyani Sangharsh Samiti (JBKSS) leader Jairam Mahato who, even before campaigning, had been pulling crowds over his stand in favour of implementing a state domicile policy that would the year 1932 as cut-off date for having proof of land ownership.

Mahato and the JBKSS contested eight seats where Kudmi voters play a big role. Since the JBKSS could not get its political party registered before the polls, all its candidates ran as Independents. Though none of them won, they polled a significant number of votes. Mahato himself in Giridih, as well as his party’s candidates in Ranchi and Hazaribagh, made deep inroads into the AJSUP’s Kudmi base. Apart from this, the party fielded Manoj Yadav in Koderma, Damodar Singh Hansda in Singhbhum, Eklaq Ansari in Dhanbad, Babylata Tudu in Dumka, and Deepak Gupta in Chatra.

In Giridih, the AJSU’s Chandra Prakash Choudhary polled 4.51 lakh votes, while Jharkhand Mukti Morcha’s (JMM) Mathura Prasad Mahato polled 3.7 lakh votes. Jairam came third with 3.47 lakh votes. He polled more votes than the other two in the Assembly segments of Gomia, where the AJSU’s Lambodar Mahato is the sitting MLA, and Dumri.

In Ranchi, where the BJP’s Sanjay Seth won, JBKSS’s student leader Devendra Nath Mahato polled 1.32 lakh votes, coming second in the Silli Assembly segment where the sitting MLA is AJSUP chief Sudesh Mahato.