A poll quest for Bihar's 'forgotten people': Contesting for the tribal vote

As the JMM weighs its options ahead of the Assembly polls, including contesting on its own, others chalk out plans to attract the elusive tribal voter

As Assembly elections draw close, the race to woo the tribal communities of Bihar has begun. At around 25,00,000, tribals constitute less than 3 per cent of the state’s population and wield limited influence in pockets of 15 districts, especially West Champaran, Katihar, Kishanganj, Araria, and Purnea. 

The roots of tribal political consolidation, though, could be traced to the movement led by the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) for the creation of Jharkhand, then a part of undivided Bihar. 

Even though it is leading the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc in Jharkhand, the JMM has indicated that it may contest the Bihar polls on its own. On their part, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Congress convened on four occasions to chalk out a strategy for Bihar polls, but kept the JMM out of these parleys. 

“When national leaders sit down to discuss poll plans, JMM might attend. You can’t ignore leaders of the stature of Hemant Soren and Kalpana Soren,” said Manoj Pandey, spokesperson, JMM. But internally, according to sources, party leaders feel their claims for Bihar are not being taken seriously. It was the JMM that led the alliance with Congress to victory in Jharkhand, winning 56 of the 81 seats in Assembly polls last November. It could manage this despite the incarceration of its leader and chief minister Hemant Soren just months ahead of the elections and defection of senior leaders. 

Congress, however, has hinted at making efforts to take along the JMM in Bihar. 

“This is our responsibility as part of the alliance, and we have already taken steps in this regard,” K Raju, Jharkhand Congress in-charge told reporters in Giridih last week. 

The JMM, according to sources, is keen to contest at least a dozen of the total 243 seats. Congress’ efforts notwithstanding, the final understanding would need the RJD’s assent.  

The BJP senses an advantage. 

“It is good for us if JMM contests. That will divide the Opposition and give us the upper hand,” former chief minister Babulal Marandi, who is now heading the BJP’s Jharkhand unit, told Business Standard in Ranchi. 

In the absence of a consolidated vote bank in Bihar, appeals on caste or tribe lines fall flat, Marandi, who is also the leader of the Opposition in the Jharkand Assembly explained.  “For tribals in Bihar, the issue is not tribal solidarity. It is: how accessible the person representing them is,” he added. 

If research is any pointer, those claiming to represent tribals in Bihar have not done a particularly good job. Ankit Vyas, an academic, conducted a ground-level study on political representation, education, employment opportunities, and access to state provisions for the tribal communities. He gathered data of around 400 tribal families. But, the findings of the report were not very encouraging. 

The report highlighted that because of their numerical insignificance, tribal communities had marginal powers of political leverage and access to state-financed benefits. The report stated that in as many as 29 per cent of households, men had received no education. For women, this number went up to 54 per cent. Forty per cent of boys and 35 per cent of girls from the surveyed scheduled tribe (ST) households in Bihar were still out of school; 87 per cent of the surveyed households had a ration card, while 13 per cent did not possess one. 

Twenty-nine per cent households had received no food grain under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKY) for six months (the first half of 2024). The report added that only 21 per cent families had a caste certificate and fewer than 1 in 3 households had a PM-JAY (Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana) health insurance card. 

Adivasi rights have never been a potent issue in Bihar, even when the state had not been bifurcated, says Anil Kumar Roy, an office-bearer of the Right to Education Forum in Bihar. It has become worse after bifurcation, he adds. “They (tribals) don’t figure in the electoral mathematics of political parties. The result is, the community votes for local people on the basis of local issues. Tribal issues are not taken seriously in Bihar.” 

Among the state’s major tribal communities are Santhal, Oraon, Malpahariya, Gond, Tharu, and Kharwar. Primarily residing in rural areas, they till land and at times take up work as daily wage workers on farms. Some even migrate to urban areas for work. After bifurcation, Bihar is no longer included in the Fifth Schedule that designates tribal-dominant geographical areas as ‘Scheduled Area’. The state is covered under no special Central and state government provisions meant for tribals. 

But, in an election likely to be closely contested, political parties are taking no chances. Marandi said he was scheduled to visit Banka, which has a tribal population of around 5 per cent. “Sometimes, your party might not have an overall majority, or even support in a particular area. But smaller groups see themselves being stifled by bigger social groups and band together. That is the thinking of tribals in Bihar,” he said. 

The ruling Janata Dal United has adopted a strategy that has worked in the past, hoping it will click again: setting up commissions to sensitise communities about their rights and claims. On May 30, chief minister Nitish Kumar set up a five-member Scheduled Tribes Commission to be led by ex-bureaucrat Shailendra Kumar as chairman and tribal leader Surendra Oraon as vice-chairman. 

But it is the JMM that has the most skin in the game. Buoyed by its success in the Jharkhand polls, the JMM will try to expand in Bihar, its leaders said. Though the party has won only one assembly seat in Bihar till date, it is hopeful. For it is the party that was born out of tribal resentment in undivided Bihar and made a mark on the basis of assertion of the Adivasi identity. 

However, some observers say they do not see much emerging from these interventions. “Adivasis have never been an issue in Bihar politics. Competitive politics might change things this time, but I am not hopeful,” Roy says. Tribals in Bihar, he says, are the forgotten people.