As voting for the third of the five-phase Jharkhand assembly elections takes place, all eyes are on All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) Party, which snapped ties with the BJP. Though some say the split happened over the seat-sharing dispute, political observers say that AJSU has become overambitious. Of the 17 assembly seats going to polls in the third phase, AJSU is contesting in 14.
Speaking to THE WEEK, AJSU chief Sudesh Mahto defended the decision to go solo in the elections, citing ideological differences with the BJP. In 2014, AJSU contested eight seats and won five. But this time, AJSU is contesting 52 seats of the 81. And Mahto himself is contesting from Silli assembly seat from where he was defeated twice. Excerpts from the interview:
Why did you decide to leave the BJP?
In 2014, we joined the BJP only to give a stable government for the full five-year tenure. But, in last five years, we have seen that issues related to people of Jharkhand have taken a back seat. Moreover, efforts were made to tweak land laws to snatch land from the tribals. And, despite being part of the government, we had to oppose the state government's move. For the last 19 years, we have been supporting the BJP.
Was there any issue of seat-sharing with the BJP?
Besides seat-sharing, we had differences over having a common agenda for people of Jharkhand. We wanted to contest from 17 constituencies where we have strong ground support. And we were confident of wining at least 15 seats of 17. But, it seems that the BJP state leadership did not have confidence in us.
Did you have issues with Chief Minister Raghubar Das?
No, I do have any particular issue with anyone. There is a big change in BJP's behaviour, character and public face in the last few years. Selecting Raghubar Das as chief minister was a mistake, as he never understood Jharkhand. It is not a question of being tribal or non-tribal (Das is the first non-tribal chief minister of the state). But Das took certain steps which were purely against our party's ideology. While in the government, I asked the chief minister how can I return to people seeking their support when I have not been able to solve their core issues. Jharkhand is the land of tribals and they are very emotional about their land, water and forest. But Das-led government took several decisions which were anti-tribal.
Apart from AJSU, other NDA allies like JD(U) and LJP are contesting solo. Why are parties leaving the NDA?
In the last five years in the state, no meeting of the NDA was held. No meeting was held to iron out the differences between the allies under this government, unlike the previous NDA government, when George Fernandes took along all the allies. No NDA coordination committee was set up. It's a big mistake being committed by the BJP at the centre as well as in Jharkhand.
How do you see the role of regional parties in national politics?
Regional parties came into existence after national parties cheated the region. BJP's slogan of 'one nation, one party' will not happen in India, as it is a country of diversity. Atal Bihari ji had proved it by running the Union government with the support of the regional parties. Regional parties have become a necessity for the development of the region and to keep the regional identity alive.
You have promised reservation for OBCs in your manifesto.
Yes, we have been fighting for other backward community reservation for long. Our party will bring 27 per cent reservation for the OBCs.
The BJP leadership is raising issues like Ram temple or abrogation of article 370 during election campaign. What is your opinion on it?
In the states, you cannot go to the public raising issues like Ram temple or article 370. You should concentrate on your contribution for the states in the last five years, ranging from electricity to road to jobs creation.
Will you go with the BJP after the results? BJP president Amit Shah has already made it clear that AJSU will be in the government.
I cannot comment on what Amit Shah has said. But we have not thought about it so far. Right now, our party cadre is concentrating on winning maximum number of seats.
