Born out of Jharkhand’s statehood movement, the All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) is an established player in the state’s political landscape and seemingly set to pose a stiff challenge to the INDIA bloc in the 10 seats it is contesting as an NDA constituent in the Assembly polls.

The AJSU, which made its debut in the 2004 Lok Sabha polls as a BJP ally and drew a blank, is going into the elections highlighting the “corruption” of the Hemant Soren-led Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) government and on the subject of ensuring the rights of the “original inhabitants of the state”.

“The state government has encouraged corruption for the last five years. No one seeks answers from them,” said AJSU president Sudesh Mahto, who is also the MLA from Silli in Ranchi district.

In 2005, the AJSU parted ways with the BJP and drew a blank in the 2009 and 2014 (as a BJP ally) Lok Sabha polls. In 2019, its candidate Chandra Prakash Choudhary won Giridih, its first-ever, and retained in the Lok Sabha elections.

The party has not enjoyed a great run in the Assembly polls since 2005, where it won only two of the 40 seats it contested and has won five seats each in the 2009 (54 seats contested) and 2014 (8 seats contested) polls. In the 2019 elections, it contested 52 seats and emerged victorious in Gomia in Bokaro district and Silli.

Drawing its inspiration, like the JMM, from tribal leader Birsa Munda, the AJSU boasts of a support base among the Kudmi Mahto community, which comprises 15% of the state population.

For the polls, the party has fielded Sunita Chaudhary, the wife of the Giridih MP Chandra Prakash Chaudhary, while Neeru Shanti Bhagat is its Lohardaga candidate. The party’s sitting Jugsalai MLA Mangal Kalindi has been renominated, while Nirmal Mahto, Harelal Mahto, and Ajhar Islam will be in the fray from Jugsalai, Ichagarh, and Pakur respectively.

Asked why his party was contesting fewer seats this time, Sudesh Mahto claimed that fielding more candidates in 2019 helped “those currently in power”. “Contesting more seats may increase our support base but we do not want to give the JMM and the Congress an advantage like in 2019. We did not pay attention to profit or loss during seat-sharing. We sacrificed some seats for the sake of Jharkhand,” he said.

The AJSU chief attributed INDIA bloc’s stellar Lok Sabha performance in tribal-dominated seats to narratives. “They managed to spread the ‘save the Constitution’ narrative during the Lok Sabha polls. Moreover, they were the ruling alliance in the state and that benefited them. This time, the state government will be answerable to the people. The people have lost confidence in the JMM government as they have not fulfilled their 2019 promises,” he said.

As its ally BJP’s campaign revolves around alleged illegal infiltration and the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), Sudesh said they were national issues. “They (BJP) will say it in every state because there is a discussion on UCC across India; what is wrong with it? There are issues regarding tribal communities in the UCC but they will become clear in the coming days,” he said.

On the allegations of alleged infiltration from Bangladesh, the AJSU Party chief was of the opinion that the state and Central governments should look into it if the West Bengal government was allowing it. “Jharkhand does not share a border with Bangladesh,” he said.

JMM, however, was quick to dismiss the AJSU. “I would not want to say much about the AJSU. They are an organised political gang. AJSU stands for ‘Aao Jaldi Sauda Uthayein’. They always strike a deal with some party and this time they have done it with the BJP,” said JMM spokesperson Supriyo Bhattacharya.