What clicked for the JMM in Jharkhand

So, what worked for the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM)-led INDIA grouping in the just concluded assembly election in Jharkhand?

- Badri Narayan

A trend emerges if one looks at the polls in the state in conjunction with those in Maharashtra (just concluded) and Haryana (in October)—pro-poor welfare policies are reshaping the form and content of democracy in the country. Due to the impact of these social welfare policies, a voter segment of beneficiaries (labharthi) has emerged that is choosing parties that launched/implemented such policies successfully, beyond caste and religious boundaries.

Among these beneficiaries, women constitute a cohesive and organized sub-group, possibly given their resilience in the face of hardships in the everyday life of households. So, social welfare policies such as Ladli Behna Yojana in Madhya Pradesh, Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana in Maharashtra, and Maiya Samman Yojana in Jharkhand, which provide monthly financial support to women, have paid rich dividends and mobilized women beneficiaries in favor of political parties that conceptualized, launched, and implemented these.