Jharkhand Assembly Election: As campaign ends today, INDIA bloc allies worry about Congress’ lacklustre effort

The campaigning for the second phase of the Jharkhand Assembly Election ends today. The voting for 38 seats in the second phase of the polls will be held on November 20.

The polling for the first phase of the Jharkhand Assembly Election was held for 43 seats on November 13. The counting of votes of the 81-member Jharkhand assembly will be held on November 23, along with that of Maharashtra.

The contest in Jharkhand is between the ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha-led INDIA bloc and the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

INDIA bloc allies—the JMM and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)—have voiced concerns about the Congress party's ‘weak’ campaign in the state. The worry stems from the fact that the party's top leaders campaigned only in the seats where the party candidates were in the fray. The Congress party didn't campaign for the INDIA bloc allies.

The Congress is contesting 30 assembly seats in the 81-member house. Seventeen of these seats voted in the first phase on November 13. Chief Minister Hemant Soren-led JMM is contesting 42 seats, the RJD six, and the CPI(ML)(L) three.

The Congress allies have said that even in the seats where the Congress has fielded candidates, the campaign was half-hearted. The Congress manifesto came a day before phase one of polling on November 13. In fact, the BJP lodged a campaign with the Election Commission against the Congress for releasing its manifesto in the silence period—the 48 hours before the polling begins.

Rahul Gandhi addresses rallies

JMM leaders Hemant Soren and his wife Kalpana Soren have held 60 rallies together in Jharkhand. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has addressed seven meetings until Friday. Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge has addressed four more.

“Seeing the share of the Congress in the alliance (seat-sharing pact), its leaders should have addressed more rallies,” a JMM leader was quoted as saying in Indian Express. The leaders wondered if the Congress got ‘more seats’ in proportion to its strength in the state.

In the 2019 Assembly Elections, JMM emerged as the largest party with 30 seats, while the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) bagged 25 seats. The Congress won 16 seats, the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (JVM) got three seats, while the All Jharkhand Students Union won 2 seats.