Jharkhand: Will the non-tribal consolidation gamble work for the BJP

New Delhi, Dec 23: The results in Jharkhand would be crucial for the BJP. It would indicate whether the trends from the Maharashtra and Haryana elections would continue or not.

The BJP failed to repeat its 2014 performances both in Haryana and Maharashtra. The party emerged as the single largest party in these states. While in Haryana, it managed to form the government with an alliance, in Maharashtra, the Shiv Sena broke away from it, as a result of which the BJP is in opposition.

Some of the major national issues were not part of the narrative in Jharkhand. For instance, the issues such as Ayodhya or Article 370 did not strike a chord with the voter, thus making it an extremely local election.

For the BJP, the result would largely depend on whether the non-tribal votes have consolidated or not.

The BJP has a non-tribal CM candidate. The tribal votes make up for 29 per cent of the electorate. Hence, it could be said that the BJP took a gamble in going with a non-tribal candidate.

The party would be hoping that this gamble would pay off like it did in Haryana. In Haryana, it was the non-Jat consolidation that helped the BJP win the elections. For the BJP, the task is an uphill one. It would be battling anti-incumbency and the party also went in for the election without an ally. The AJSU broke away from the BJP before the elections. However, following the exit polls, the party had indicated that it was not averse to a tie-up with the BJP in the post result scenario.