The Jharkhand Assembly poll result seems to have given the stamp of approval to Jharkhand Loktantrik Krantikari Morcha (JLKM) chief Jairam Mahato a.k.a. ‘Tiger’ as the new face of the OBC Kudmi community in the state.

The JLKM won only one of the 71 seats it contested in the state but impacted the poll outcome in at least 14 seats, largely benefitting the INDIA bloc.

On the other hand, The All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) Party, claiming to be the representative of the OBC Kudmi community, won only one seat by a thin margin of 231 votes out of 10 constituencies it contested in alliance with the BJP. The biggest shocker for the AJSU was the defeat of party chief Sudesh Mahto from his constituency Silli.

The contrast in the confidence of the two leaders was evident from the statements made by Jairam and Sudesh after the poll results were announced.

“Sapne dekhne chahiye, yuvaon ko sapne bade dekhne chahiye… Vidhayak banne se mere saath-saath yuvaon ke raaste bhi khul gaye hain (People should dream, the youth should dream big… After my election as an MLA, the roads have opened for the youths too)”, said 29-year-old Jairam, who won from Dumri constituency defeating JMM’s Baby Devi.

Addressing the media, Sudesh said, “We respect the mandate given by the people and congratulate Hemant Soren-ji. We will review this election result within our party and NDA.”

‘Jharkhand ka ladka’, as Jairam  is popularly referred to, polled 94,496 votes, defeating Baby Devi by a margin of 10,945 votes. AJSU Party’s Yashoda Devi came a distant third with 35,890 votes.

The Dumri seat was once a stronghold of JMM and its leader Jagarnath Mahato, who did not lose a single election from the constituency since the formation of Jharkhand. After Jagarnath’s death due to Covid-related complications, the seat was held by his wife Baby Devi, who won it in the 2023 by-election.

The Kudmi population, along with youths across different castes seem to have rallied behind Jairam in Dumri.

The Kudmi community makes up for 15% of the electorate in Jharkhand. Sources in the know of the socio-economic caste Census 2011 data said the OBC Kudmi population in the state stands at 8.6%.

“Given the estimated population of around 4 crore in Jharkhand, even at 8.6%, Kudmi Mahatos would make for 34 lakh population in the state, and 20 lakh of them would be eligible to vote. The swing of Kudmi votes can impact elections and Jairam Mahato has rekindled a fire in many constituencies,” an expert said.

In Silli Assembly constituency, Sudesh lost to JMM’s Amit Mahato by a margin of 23,867 votes. Sudesh’s defeat and Amit’s win is also linked to the performance of the JLKM in the constituency, where its candidate Devendra Nath Mahato polled 41,725 votes.

The JLKM fielded 71 candidates in the Assembly elections, with Jairam contesting from two seats — Dumri and Bermo. While the Dumri contest cost the JMM, the Bermo fight benefited JMM’s ally Congress. Jairam polled 60, 871 votes in Bermo, losing to Kumar Jaimangal of the Congress by a margin of 29,375 votes, while BJP’s Ravinder Pandey came a distant third, polling 58,352 votes.

Like Bermo, JLKM cut votes in several constituencies, largely benefitting the INDIA bloc. In at least 13 seats — Silli, Bokaro, Gomia, Giridih, Tundi, Ichagarh, Tamar, Chakradharpur, Chandankyari, Kanke, Chatarpur, Sindri and Kharsawan — the votes polled by the JLKM were more than the winning margin.

In the Lok Sabha election earlier this year, Jairam polled 3.47 lakh votes from Giridih constituency, single-handedly making it a triangular contest; he came third by a margin of 20,000 votes. In an interview to The Indian Express recently, he said: “It’s challenging when a new party rises. But if a new political party doesn’t come up fearing the challenges, I think democracy will get restricted. People call us ‘vote-cutter’, but it is applicable only when we get the exact same votes… We are creating our own identity and getting more votes… That’s why we do not worry about it; we have centred our efforts around our performance and presentation.”

Jairam became the face of the ‘language protests’ — through his organisation Jharkhandi Bhasha Sangharsh Samiti — in Bokaro, Dhanbad, Giridih and Koderma districts in the early 2022 when the government issued a notification to include Magahi, Bhojpuri and Angika as regional languages in the district-level selection process through exams conducted by the Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission. The notification, later revoked, triggered resentment among a section of people, especially in Bokaro and Dhanbad, who saw the inclusion of Bhojpuri and Magahi as an “infringement” on the rights of Adivasis and Moolvasis. The protests snowballed into the need for a political identity and that’s when the JLKM was formed in early 2024.