J'khand tribals: Holding key to power; living in poverty

All but one CM have been members of ST communities. Still two-thirds of tribal-dominated districts have high levels of multidimensional poverty. INDIVJAL DHASMANA looks at their economic condition as the state gears up for the two-phase Assembly polls

- INDIVJAL DHASMANA

As Assembly polls draw closer in Jharkhand, constituencies reserved for scheduled tribes (STs) that comprise over one-third of the state's total assembly seats hold the key for political parties.

Of the total 81 constituencies in Jharkhand, 28 are reserved for STs. The importance of STs could be gauged from the fact that of the total 13 chief ministers, only one - Raghubar Das of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) - has been a non-tribal. Interestingly, he was the only one to complete a full term from 2014-2019.

The BJP is relying on the defection of prominent tribals from the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), including former chief minister Champai Soren, and other leaders like Babu Lal Marandi and Arjun Munda, besides leaders from its alliance partner All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) to improve its performance after facing drubbing from India Bloc in the 2019 assembly polls.

The BJP also lost all five ST seats in Jharkhand in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls against winning three each in the 2014 and 2019 elections.

On the other hand, the INDIA bloc - the JMM and the Congress along with other alliance partners - is trying to retain its stronghold in the tribal constituencies.

In a bid to woo tribal voters, Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month announced the Dharti Aaba Jantatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan, a ₹79,150 crore welfare initiative, expected to benefit 50 million tribals in the country.