Assam Assembly Elections 2026 | JMM banks on ancestral roots to woo Adivasi voters, may tacitly help Congress

Guwahati: Banking on the ancestral roots Adivasi workers in Assam's tea gardens share with Jharkhand's Chotanagpur, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) has fielded candidates in 21 Assembly seats for April 9 polls with a target to register electoral success beyond its traditional territory.

Several party leaders including Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren are campaigning in tea gardens in eastern and North Assam, where Adivasi voters play the decisive role.

Even as JMM share the power with Congress in Jharkhand, Soren has been attacking both ruling BJP and Opposition Congress alleging that the tea garden workers have been subjected to "neglect and exploitation" for votes. Soren also harped on BJP's failure to fulfill its pre-poll promise for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to tea garden communities in Assam.

"You have been used politically and denied rightful recognition, fair wages, and a better future for your children," Soren said while addressing tea garden voters at Rajgarh tea estate in eastern Assam's Dibrugarh district.

Tea garden votes

With more than 35 lakh Adivasis living in over 850 big tea estates, Adivasis play decisive role in at least 40 Assembly constituencies (out of total 126) while they enjoys influence in at least 10 others. Tea garden voters were traditionally aligned to Congress but BJP made inroads since the Lok Sabha polls in 2014 and in the 2016 Assembly elections, when BJP formed its first government with Sarbananda Sonowal as the CM. Sonowal hails from Dibrugarh.

The BJP-led government with Himanta Biswa Sarma as the Chief Minister, which took charge in 2021, has taken several steps like construction of schools inside gardens, reserving seats in medical colleges, offered one-time cash of Rs. 5,000, increased daily wages by Rs. 30, and started allotment of land to the tea garden workers ahead of Assembly elections.

The Opposition Congress, on the other hand, is trying to regain the faith of the tea garden voters by repeatedly questioning why BJP failed to provide ST status to the six ethnic communities including those working in tea gardens.

Tactical move

Although, JMM leaders claim that registering electoral success outside Jharkhand is their aim, observers believe that it was a tactical move by the Opposition to divide votes in tea gardens and thereby hampering BJP in several seats where Congress is unlikely to win on its own. Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi also met Soren recently, making it apparent about a understanding between the two parties.

A JMM leader, however, said Soren decided to field candidates after Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma campaigned extensively against his party before the Jharkhand Assembly elections in 2024.