In yet another blow to the Congress party, the Muslim community in Jharkhand has decided not to vote for Congress candidate Krishna Nand Tripathi. They threatened a boycott against Congress over the lack of representation from their community.
They sought that candidates from the Muslim community contest for at least four seats in the state including the Chatra, Godda, Koderma, and Giridih, or else they would not vote for the Congress candidate.
Mahagathbandhan, commonly referred to as the Grand Alliance, is a political party coalition in India’s eastern state of Jharkhand that was created right before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The alliance includes parties like the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, the Indian National Congress, the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Nationalist Congress Party, and the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist Liberation).
The Chatra Lok Sabha constituency has five assembly seats namely Latehar, Manika, Panki, Chhatra, and Dumariya. Notably, BJP candidate Kalicharan Singh is making concerted efforts to connect to voters from all backgrounds with an enthusiastic campaign. A month ago, the BJP candidate received a grand welcome from the Muslim community days after the party announced his candidature for the upcoming Lok Sabha Elections.
The resistance from the Muslim minority, which accounts for 20% of the population in the Chatra constituency, will likely only worsen Congress candidate Tripathi’s problems. The Congress party on 16th April announced another list of three candidates in Jharkhand for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The party fielded Deepika Pandey Singh from Godda, Krishna Nand Tripathi from Chatra, and Anupama Singh from Dhanbad.
The people from the Muslim community then raised an objection saying that though Chatra is a constituency that has more Muslim voters, the Mahagathbandhan decided to field a Hindu candidate.
On Saturday (19th April), Muslim intellectuals had a meeting to discuss the topic and expressed their decision to field their candidate or host a public gathering to decide whether to vote for the BJP.
During the meeting, the intellectuals said that the Congress Party should stop making the mistake of taking Muslims of Chatra for granted. “Now Muslims have completely awakened. Under any circumstances, the candidates of the Congress Party and Grand Alliance will not be able to take the votes of Muslims by showing fear of the BJP,” they said.
“Our population in Jharkhand is second after the tribals. We have represented Godda and Dhanbad and other Lok Sabha constituencies many times with 20% population. Despite this, the Grand Alliance did not consider a Muslim candidate for even one of the 14 seats, which is unfortunate,” they added.
The Muslim leaders also stated that, despite having a 20% Muslim population, the Grand Alliance had failed to field a Muslim contender for any of Jharkhand’s 14 seats. Tripathi is also experiencing opposition from within the RJD, with some workers protesting the high command’s choice to support him.
India will hold general elections in seven parts from April 19 to June 1, 2024, to elect 543 Lok Sabha members. The votes will be counted, and the results will be announced on June 4, 2024.