Jharkhand Mukti Morcha

Formation

For almost six decades the movement for formation of Jharkhand from Bihar had been changing colour and strategy to gain a foothold. The Jharkhand Party grew politically stronger but the commissions examining the demands for a separate Jharkhand State rejected these demands every time. Despite the reports of these commissions deciding against them, the Jharkhand Party never lost sight of its ultimate target: a separate state of Jharkhand. Till 1962 Jharkhand Party won between 23-32 seats in the Bihar Legislative Assembly. Post 1962 the Jharkhand Party aligned with Indin National Congress and Jaipal Singh became a minister in Vinodanand Jha's government in Bihar. With this, the demand for the Tribal Homeland was put on hold for nearly a decade.

At the 4th General Election held in 1967 the party had a very poor showing with only eight Assembly seats. The party soon split into several splinter groups each claiming to be the genuine Jharkhand Party. These were - the Jharkhand Party led by N.E. Horo, the Jharkhand Party led by Naren, All India Jharkhand Party led by Bagun Sumroi, the Hul Jharkhand Party led by Justin Richard which further fragmented and came to be called the Bihar Progressive Hul Jharkhand Party and it was led by Shibu Soren.

Santhal leader Shri Shibu Soren founded the ‘Sonat Santhali Samaj’ in 1969. The movement was infused with a new radicalism when Shibu Soren formed the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) in league with the Marxist co-ordination Committee in 1972 with the help of Shri Binod Bihari Mahto, the leader of ‘Shivajee Samaj’. The party was officially created on the birthday of Birsa Munda, the 19th century tribal warrior of Jharkhand, who fought against the British rule in present-day Jharkhand.

On 4th Feb, 1973 Shri Binod Bihari Mahto became president and Shri Shibu Soren as General Secretary of the party. The prominent party leaders at that time were: Comrade A. K. Roy (Party Secretary-Society of Industrial and Coal Laborers), late Martin Nirmal Mahto (prominent Trade Union Movement leader), late Tek Lal Mahto among others.

Early years

In its early years, the JMM under Soren's leadership brought industrial and mining workers who were mainly non-tribals belonging to the Dalit and Backward communities such as Surdis, Doms, Dusadh and Kurmi-Mahtos into its fold. However Soren's association with the late congress M.P. Gyanranjan brought him close to the then Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi in New Delhi. He won the Dumka Lok Sabha seat in 1972. Irked by Soren's association with the Indian National Congress, a few of the younger members of the JMM banded together in Jamshedpur and set up the All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU). This did not affect the growth of the JMM in the Indian general election, 1991 where the JMM won six seats.

Ram Dayal Munda reignited the movement for Jharkhand by unifying splinter groups among the tribals. Under his guidance the Jharkhand Coordination Committee was constituted in June 1987, comprising 48 organisations and group including the JMM factions. Due to Ram Dayal Munda, Shibu Soren, Suraj Mandal, Simon Marandi, Shailendra Mahato, and AJSU leaders like Surya Singh Besra and Prabhakar Tirkey briefly shared a political platform, but the JMM pulled out of JCC as it felt that 'the collective leadership was a farce'. The JMM/AJSU and JPP successfully orchestrated so-called bandhs, economic blockades in 1988–89. In the interim,

Jharkhand State

Jharkhand state was formed on 15 November 2000 after almost half a century of people's movements to evolve a Jharkhandi identity, which disadvantaged societal groups articulated to augment political resources and influence the policy process in their favour. It is the 28th state of India.

At the 2005 Jharkhand state assembly elections, the JMM took second place and received 17 of the 81 seats. It supports the government of Independent Chief Minister Madhu Koda which was formed in 2006. It continues to be an active part of the United Progressive Alliance. It has had its fair share of controvoersies when its MPs were involved in the bribery scam during the Rao Government and a scandal in early 2005 about the Chief Minister of Jharkhand. Recently, one of its MPs was assassinated by Naxalites.

After the loss to Bangladesh in the 2007 Cricket World Cup, the house that Mahendra Singh Dhoni was constructing in his home-town Ranchi was vandalized and damaged by political activists of the JMM

Currently, the Bharatiya Janata Party has formed the government in Jharkhand. Raghubar Das is the Chief Minister of Jharkhand. Shibu Soren is the party President of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and is the MP from Dumka Lok Sabha seat and Vijay Kumar Hansdak is another MP of JMM who is elected in Lok Sabha from Rajmahal Lok Sabha seat . C.P.Singh is the Speaker of Jharkhand Vidhan Sabha and a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party Party.

Jharkhand Chhatra Yuva Morcha

Jharkhand Chhatra Yuva Morcha (Jharkhand Student Youth Front), the youth and student wing of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, was constituted at a conference in Ranchi October 16, 1991. JCYM was formed to counter the influence of the more radical All Jharkhand Students Union.

Election performance

JMM performed poorly and won just two out of 14 seats in Jharkhand in the Indian general election, 2014. BJP won the rest. JMM won the Dumka Lok Sabha seat and Rajmahal Lok Sabha seat constituencies.

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