BY RADHIKA RAMASESHAN

The eastern state, which polls in three weeks from now, could be the first test of Ayodhyas impact on voters for the RSS, Modi and Shah

Knowing the BJP, it must have returned to the drawing board straightaway after the Ayodhya verdict to revisit and perhaps rework its strategy for the assembly election in Jharkhand. The little eastern state, which was carved out of Bihar in 2000, was a BJP stronghold, indeed its only bulwark against Lalu Prasads domination at a time when the RJD strongman had ruled Bihar like his fief. The BJPs Hindutva theme, pegged on the Ram temple, was used to effect in south Bihar, which later became Jharkhand and has nearly 20 per cent Muslims and Christians. Expectedly, the Church and the charge of Christian missionaries proselytising the gullible tribes worked well for the BJP. Its campaign was supplemented by the propaganda unleashed by the RSS through its tribe wing, the Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram, which adopted a strategy of spreading Hinduism-through-service (health, education) among the adivasis.

Jharkhand will be the first test of the impact of the Supreme Courts verdict, and the fruition of a Ram temple on his birthplace, on voters. Do emotive subjects impinging on faith and the majority-minority divide always work for the BJP? Not necessarily. For instance, there is evidence that its offensive against the infiltrators and the threat of deploying the NRC the country over did not take off in the Maharashtra and Haryana polls. The polemics over infiltrator versus domicile is problematic in states other than Assam. Interstate migration has been a reality for ages, ever since the Tamil-speaking population from down south travelled in droves north-westward to construct the Bhakra Nangal dam and Malayalis from Kerala fanned out as far east as Arunachal Pradesh, braving Arunachals stringent inner line permit regime and laws for taking up residency and jobs. The infiltrators are clearly Bangladeshis but many migrants think that Amit Shahs warning to weed out ghuspetiya from Maharashtra and Haryana was meant for them a throwback to the MNS period.

Ayodhya, on the other hand, resonates beyond castes and regions. On social media, a thread that questioned the involvement of the southern states in the Ram temple project provoked a heated debate that was settled when it was argued that the largest contingents that arrived as kar sevaks before the 1992 demolition were from the south of the Vindhayas, including Tamil Nadu. The issue is, having experienced less-thanthe-expected degree of success from the use of Article 370 and NRC in the most recent elections, would the BJP let Ayodhya overwhelm the Jharkhand discourse? Its a double-edged weapon: on the one hand, the absence of the temple or a marked dilution would take away from the sense of elation that pervaded the Sangh Parivars responses on Saturday. On the other hand, an overuse might be counterproductive against the Oppositions tactic of playing up local issues against the incumbent BJP-led government.

The Opposition in Ranchi is more sure-footed than it is in many states. Learning a lesson or two from the betterthan-anticipated showing for the Congress in Haryana and the NCP in Maharashtra, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) swung into the act and cemented apact with the Congress and the RJD, leaving most of the non-tribe seats to the last two and itself focused on the adivasi pockets that Shibu Soren held in thrall for decades.

Ayodhya may not be a dilemma for the Opposition, not after the Congress embraced the verdict and articulated a pro-temple position, possibly reckoning that the new generation of young Muslim adults may not be terribly bothered about the fate of the Babri site.

The 13 ST seats have created issues for the BJP because the strategy to have a non-tribe CM in Das, whos from the backward caste Teli, was borne out of the need to coalesce the others against the adivasis and create a dedicated vote bank of the upper castes, the OBCs and Dalits. Just as the projection of a Punjabi, Manohar Lal Khattar, rankled with the Jats of Haryana, the tribes of Jharkhand havent exactly taken to Das. On his part, Das played to his non-tribe constituents by attempting to amend the tenancy laws and creating land banks in Adivasi areas for the others. The Christians opposed the anti-conversion bill.

Like in Maharashtra, the BJP bit the bait of taking away purported influencers from the Opposition to shore up its strength. The trouble is those like Sashi Bhushan Mehta of the JMM and Bhanu Pratap Shahi, an Independent MLA, arrived with a baggage: Mehta is on trial in a murder case while Shahi is battling corruption charges. Therefore, how will the BJP defend itself while accusing the JMM, Congress and the RJD of being mired in corruption?

Jharkhands not a breeze for either side. An interesting, if keen, battle lies ahead.

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Over to Jharkhand - Mumbai Mirror