Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made it clear that he wants to win Jharkhand at any cost. His whirlwind visit to the state on Monday, the first since the elections were announced, shows that nothing will stop him from going the extra mile to achieve his objective. He is determined not to repeat the mistake of 2019 when the tribals voted en masse against the BJP, driving it out of power. In the party’s election manifesto, there’s a promise to implement the Uniform Civil Code without compromising the unique marriage practices among the tribals. The BJP doesn’t want to alienate the tribal community, which makes up about 26 percent of the population. For this reason, the party has been rallying support in the name of Birsa Munda, who opposed not only the British but also the “outsiders” displacing the tribals. He is one of the historical icons the BJP has adopted to win tribal support.

Once a tribal-majority state, Jharkhand has seen outsiders gradually pushing its indigenous people to society’s margins. When the BJP won a majority in 2014, it chose a non-tribal as chief minister — a choice the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha exploited to distance the BJP from tribal voters. Tribals also recall that the BJP initially wanted to name the state, then part of Bihar, “Vananchal” instead of “Jharkhand,” backing down only after tribal opposition. For the same reason, it went ahead with the name Uttaranchal for Uttarakhand, but there too the party changed its stance when people across religious and caste lines opposed the proposal. In the recent Haryana elections, while Congress won Jat support, the BJP rallied non-Jat castes — a strategy Modi may hope to replicate in Jharkhand.

Modi has labelled the JMM-led coalition a government of “infiltrators,” supporting claims that illegal migrants from Bangladesh are occupying tribal lands. This slogan was first heard in Assam, where it has since been shown that infiltration was more political than real. Living standards in Bangladesh are higher than in Assam or, for that matter, Jharkhand. Modi knows that no one crosses the India-Bangladesh border without the Border Security Force or the Indian Army noticing. Still, he stirs up the narrative that tribals are suffering at infiltrators’ hands. Appealing to non-tribals, he accuses the JMM of being anti-Hindu — if not outright, then by implication. While these tactics may score votes, they do not befit the stature of a prime minister.