Jharkhand polls: Break-up with AJSU, anti-incumbency threaten BJP's chances

Jharkhand's political observers believe that if the AJSU snapped ties with the BJP rather insouciantly, it had 'good' reasons to do it

Jharkhand was never politically stable, unlike its neighbour Chhattisgarh. Both were carved out as separate states in 2000 and constitute the only tribal-majority regions in the heartland. While Chhattisgarh had uninterrupted reigns under non-tribal chief ministers, a Jharkhand government was unable to serve out its five-year tenure, except for the current dispensation helmed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). 

The Raghubar Das government came into being in 2014 with the help of the BJP’s ally, the All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU), and the defection of the legislators of the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) or JVM (P). 

But the BJP is