BJP brings in Odisha CM to lure Odia-speaking voters in Jharkhand

Jharkhand’s four districts, West Singhbhum, East Singhbhum, Saraikela-Kharaswuan, and Simdega have a sizeable population who speak Odia and share cultural and traditional roots with Odisha

As the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is making a determined push to return to power in Jharkhand, Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Majhi is now leading the party’s efforts to sway voters in the regions with a sizeable population of Odia-speaking people in the neighbouring State.

At a meeting on Monday (September 30, 2024), he tried to establish a personal connect with voters when he told them his home was just across the border and by invoking the shared linguistic cultural roots of the two States. He is on a two-day visit to Jharkhand.

Jharkhand’s four districts – East Singhbhum, West Singhbhum, Saraikela-Kharsawan, and Simdega – have sizeable population of Odia-speaking people. In some pockets, Odias outnumber those speaking other languages.

For his first meeting, Mr. Majhi chose Jagannathpur in Jharkhand’s West Singhbhum district, barely 60 km from his native and 20 km from Odisha border. Former Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda, who recently joined the BJP, wields influence in the area and his wife Geeta Koda is a former MLA of Jagannathpur.

At the meeting, the Odisha CM told voters that his home was just across the border in Keonjhar district of Odisha and that he could respond to any call from Jharkhand immediately. “People of Jharkhand and Odisha are like do jism ek jaan (two bodies and one soul). After the state reorganisation, though lakhs of Odias are divided into two States, they share the same linguistic and cultural root,” he said.

Speaking in Odia, Mr. Majhi went on to give a detailed account of the relation between two States in contemporary politics. While former Governor of Jharkhand and daughter of Odisha Droupadi Murmu is the President of India, former Jharkhand CM and BJP leader Raghubar Das is currently guiding Odisha government as Governor, he said.

He announced an increase in monthly remuneration from ₹3,000 to ₹6,000 for teachers recruited through Utkala Sammilani, a social and cultural organisation which works primarily for Odisha State and Odia people. About 140 schools are functioning in Jharkhand where the medium of education is Odia. The Odisha government provides Odia text books for school education. Initially, only Odia was the second State language in Jharkhand. Subsequently, other languages were added to the list.

Explaining the Odia connect of Jharkhand, Subhas Behera, an Odia activist from Jagannathpur, said, “Odia remains a dominant language in south Jharkhand with a sizeable population in four districts, West Singhbhum, East Singhbhum, Saraikela-Kharaswuan, and Simdega. Odisha districts such as Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar and Sundargarh share borders with Jharkhand. Apart from the linguistic and cultural ties, a lot of people have family relatives across the border,” he said.

Pratap Mishra, a Saraikela-Kharsawan-based senior journalist with a Hindi daily, said, “The influence of Odia speaking people is evident in 14 assembly constituencies and two Parliamentary seats of Jamshedpur and Chaibasa. There are different tribal groups such as Santal, Ho and Bhumeej residing in southern part of Jharkhand. But they too speak Odia and many of them have opted for Odia as the medium of studies in schools.”

Three former Jharkhand Chief Ministers such as Arjun Munda, Champai Soren and Madhu Koda speak Odia. For Assembly elections in Odisha, the BJP ropes in Arjun Munda to address public meetings, indicating his deeper ties with the State.

After Independence, Saraikela and Kharaswuan and 25 other princely States had signed a merger agreement to be part of Odisha. Saraikela and Kharaswuan were part of Odisha administration from January 1, 1948 to June 17, 1948. When Mayurbhanj, another princely State located in between, refused to sign the agreement and continued to be an independent State, Saraikela and Kharaswuan were made part of Bihar on the ground that two regions lost geographical continuity with the State. But when Mayurbhanj was merged with Odisha in 1949, the two regions could not be brought back into the fold of Odisha again.

Odia-speaking voters in Jharkhand have urged the Odisha government to step up efforts to preserve their mother tongue. They fear that without the language, their culture and traditions will disappear.

While the BJP is attempting to leverage the Odia connection in upcoming Jharkhand Assembly poll, Chief Minister Hemant Soren’s Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) is not far behind. Mr. Soren’s wife Kalpana is originally from Odisha, and his sister, Anjali Soren, is married into an Odisha family.

Published - September 30, 2024 09:31 pm IST