Uddhav clueless in defeat, Hemant triumphs against all odds

The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) landed a spectacular victory in Maharashtra, while Jharkhand, defying all exit polls, chose Chief Minister Hemant Soren-led INDIA alliance.

Observers attribute the INDIA bloc win in Jharkhand to JMM’s poll campaign, Hemant Soren's resilience and connection with the people; while in Maharashtra, Uddhav Thackeray, the original inheritor of Shiv Sena, seemed to have missed it completely.

Hemant, who too, like Uddhav found his footing in politics through his father, was in fact in a more difficult situation than the Maharashtra leader.

A couple of months back, the JMM leader was struggling with much bigger complications — his own arrest and defections by trusted party leaders like sister-in-law Sita Soren and close confidante Champai Soren.

Maharashtra and Uddhav Thackeray

The Maharashtra elections were meant for Uddhav Thackeray to justify his point after the split of Shiv Sena, the loss of iconic ‘bow and arrow’ symbol and to prove Balasaheb’s legacy.

Addressing an election campaign rally before the elections, Uddhav made a rather emotional pitch.  “One thing is for sure. Modi (PM) and Shah (Home Minister) can’t make me sit at home. But, I will retire if you decide not to stand by me,” he said in one of Sena’s strongholds.

The voters, however, understood Eknath Shinde’s story better, who invoked Balasaheb’s memory to claim that his son Uddhav strayed from his ideology and aligned with ideologically-opposed Congress and NCP to become the chief minister.

With the spectacular victory of the BJP-led Mahayuti, it is now difficult to say if the Uddhav-led faction — Shiv Sena (UBT) —will ever be able to overcome the massive setback it received in these polls.

The big story is also the stunning setback suffered by Sharad Pawar’s NCP.

Analysts say there is “still some scope of Ajit Pawar-led NCP and the Sharad Pawar faction coming together but not Eknath Shinde and Uddhav Thackeray”.

One of the features of Uddhav's campaign was to label the Eknath Shinde side as ‘gaddar’ (traitors) and gain voters’ sympathy. The results, however, put an end to the debate.

It not just delivered a verdict on the Sena versus Sena debate, but also who is the true inheritor of Balasaheb’s legacy, say Shinde supporters.

Jharkhand and Hemant Soren

It is the first time since the state's formation that a party/coalition had managed to get re-elected after serving a full five years. The credit for this goes to Hemant Soren’s JMM, which pulled a surprising turnaround, proving the exit polls, that predicted a BJP-led NDA victory, wrong.

Hemant managed this despite an ED case, a jail term and a strong polarising narrative put by a formidable opponent BJP that his Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) was in favour of Bangladeshi Muslim infiltrators and against tribals.

Champai Soren was a close confidant of Hemant’s father Shibu Soren, the founder of JMM and one of the tallest tribal leaders. However, his defection from the JMM to the BJP, which shook the tribal politics, also created sympathy for Hemant.

After Hemant’s arrest in January, Champai was made the chief minister.

However, his tenure ended with Champai alleging humiliation and accusing the party of deviating from core principles like tribal rights and opposition to Bangladeshi infiltration. 

The BJP, including PM Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, invoked “illegal immigration” from Bangladesh to attack the Hemant Soren government, saying that Jharkhand’s ‘maati, beti and roti’ were in danger because “infiltrators” were grabbing the ‘jal, zameen and jungle’ of tribals.

However, Hemant and the JMM remained focused on welfare schemes, especially the Mukhyamantri Maiya Samman Yojana, and adivasi asmita (tribal pride) narrative, say observers.  

The outcome of these elections prove that Hemant’s popularity is intact. Voters understood his narrative better and defections worked to his benefit.

Champai was used by the BJP as a poll issue with leaders claiming that a tribal leader had been insulted by the JMM.

The JMM, instead, made these elections into a ‘Hemant Soren versus BJP’, portraying his arrest as harassment of a tribal leader. It is said that initially Hemant was not his father's successor. His elder brother Durga Soren was Shibu Soren’s designated heir.

However, his untimely death in 2009 resulted in Hemant stepping into limelight. Incidentally, Sita, who resigned from the JMM in March 2024 to join BJP, is the wife of late Durga Soren.