The Jharkhand Party (JKP) is one of the oldest political parties in India. formed on 5 March 1949 by ''Marang Gomke'' Jaipal Singh Munda in

Ranchi Ranchi (; ) is the capital city and also the largest district by population of the Indian state of Jharkhand. Ranchi was the centre of the Jharkhand movement, which called for a separate state for the tribal regions of South Bihar, northern ...

. The party grew out of the demand for a separate

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in East India, eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north ...

state. The Jharkhand Party participated in the

Bihar Legislative Assembly The Bihar Legislative Assembly, also known as the Bihar Vidhan Sabha, is the lower house of the bicameral Bihar Legislature of the state of Bihar in India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is ...

elections of

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Cairo Fire, Black Saturday in Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, ...

1957 Events January * January 1 – The Saarland joins West Germany. * January 3 – Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch. * January 5 – South African player Russell Endean becomes the first batsman to be Dismissal (cricke ...

, and

1962 The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Events January * January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...

. For more than 15 years, the Jharkhand Party was the only major opposition political party against the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

in Bihar. In 1955, the Jharkhand Party submitted a memorandum for the creation of a separate state of Jharkhand to the States Reorganization Commission, but the state was not created for linguistic and economic reasons.

History

Formation

The sociopolitical movement that emerged in the early 19th century to address tribal issues in the lower Chotanagpur region gave rise to several tribal rights organizations, predominantly led by educated Christian tribals. One of the earliest was the ''Chotanagpur Unnati Samaj'', founded in 1915 by Rev. Joel Lakra with help of Theble Oraon, Bandi Oraon and Paul Dayal, aimed at promoting education and social reform. Reflecting growing political awareness among tribals, the organization opposed the

Simon Commission The Indian Statutory Commission, also known as the Simon Commission, was a group of seven members of the British Parliament under the chairmanship of John Simon. The commission arrived in the Indian subcontinent in 1928 to study constitutional ...

during its visit to

Patna Patna (; , ISO 15919, ISO: ''Paṭanā''), historically known as Pataliputra, Pāṭaliputra, is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, ...

in 1928. Around the same time, the ''Chotanagpur Catholic Sabha'' was formed under the leadership of Boniface Lakra and Ignes Beck (1928–1929), while non-convert Munda tribals established the ''Munda Sabha'' in 1929, although it failed to garner broad support. In 1931, a group of non-Christian traditionalists broke away from the Unnati Samaj and founded the ''Chotanagpur Kisan Sabha'', with Laurentius Barla as president and Theble Oraon as secretary, focusing on agrarian and cultural concerns in the Oraon belts. During the 1937 Bihar Provincial Assembly elections, only the Catholic Sabha managed limited success, winning two out of thirty-eight seats from Chotanagpur, while other tribal groups failed to gain representation. This electoral setback revealed the fragmented nature of tribal politics and prompted calls for unity, resulting in the merger of the three organizations into the ''Adivasi Mahasabha'' in May 1938, with Theodore Surin as president and Paul Dayal as secretary. The Mahasabha began advocating the idea of a Jharkhand state in the

in June 1938. At the Mahasabha’s second annual session in

in January 1939, Jaipal Singh Munda was elected president, marking a significant shift in leadership. Following his election, the Mahasabha secured notable victories in the 1939 District Board elections, winning twenty out of twenty-five seats in Singhbhum and sixteen in

. To support its political agenda and mobilization efforts beyond Ranchi and Sinbhum, the Mahasabha began publishing materials such as "Adivasi" and "Adivasi Sakam". However, dissatisfaction with Christian influence in the Mahasabha led to a split in July 1939, when Theble Oraon founded the ''Sanatan Adivasi Mahasabha'' to represent traditionalist, non-Christian tribals aligned with the nationalist movement. At the Ramgarh session of Congress in 1940, Munda discussed with Subash Chandra Bose regarding Jharkhand state. Amid rejection of Jharkhand statehood demand from influential political leaders and growing internal disagreements, the Mahasabha’s performance declined in the 1946 Bihar Assembly elections, securing only three seats, with Jaipal Singh defeated by Congress candidate Dr. P. C. Mitra. During this period, Jaipal Singh became a member of the tribal subcommittee for the drafting of the

Constitution of India The Constitution of India is the supreme law of India, legal document of India, and the longest written national constitution in the world. The document lays down the framework that demarcates fundamental political code, structure, procedures ...

in the

Constituent Assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...

. In 1947, internal debates emerged within the Mahasabha regarding the inclusion of non-tribal populations, since tribals accounted less than half of the Chotanagpur population, although no consensus was reached. Eventually, at its session held in Ranchi on 5 March 1949, the Mahasabha was reorganized as the Jharkhand Party, with Jaipal Singh as president and Julius Tigga as secretary. Following

India's independence The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events in South Asia with the ultimate aim of ending British colonial rule. It lasted until 1947, when the Indian Independence Act 1947 was passed. The first nationalistic movement t ...

on 15 August 1947 and the adoption of the Constitution on 26 November 1949, which provided reserved political representation in tribal-concentrated regions, the Jharkhand Party was formally launched to the public on 1 January 1950 in

Jamshedpur Jamshedpur (; ), also known as Tatanagar, is a major industrial city in eastern India. It is the List of cities in Jharkhand by population, largest city in the state of Jharkhand. With a population of 629,658 in the city limits and 1.3 million ...

, shifting from a tribal-centric organization to a broader regional movement advocating for a separate Jharkhand state.

Post-Independence

The Jharkhand Party participated in the 1952 election and won 34 seats in the Bihar Legislative Assembly and become the main opposition party. In 1955, the Jharkhand Party submitted a memorandum for creation of separate state to States Reorganization Commission, but the demand was not accepted because the region had many languages and tribal were in the minority. In

and

Legislative Assembly election, the winning candidates of the party reduced to 31 and 20 in subsequent elections. Jaipal Singh was disappointed by the declining popularity of his party and rejection of its demand for a separate Jharkhand. In 1963 the Jharkhand Party merged with

. The merger was quite unpopular within the party ranks, and a number of splinter groups were formed, incliuding the All India Jharkhand Party, the Hul Jharkhand Party, and Veer Birsa Dal. In 1967, N.E. Horo became an MLA of the Jharkhand Party from Kolibera by election. In 1971, the Jharkhand Party was reorganized by Bagun Sumrai, who was elected president. Horo became general secretary of the party. On 12 March 1971, the Jharkhand Party arranged the Jharkhand-Mang diwas agitations in front of the parliament. In 1975, N.E. Horo was elected president of the party and Noren Hansda was elected general secretary. In 1990, N.E. Horo was elected president, working president Lal Ranvijay Nath Sahdeo, Ashok Bhagat General Secretary in byniel conference. 2005 Anosh ekka elected kolebira vidhansabha election and becoming the cabinet minister and also rural development and transport minister of Jharkhand State, Anosh Ekka elected president and Ashok Bhagat Principal general secretary in general conference. On 8 January 2009, Jharkhand Party candidate Raja Peter defeated sitting Chief Minister of Jharkhand, Shibu Soren by over 9,000 votes in presidency of Anosh Ekka and Shri Ashok Kumar Bhagat-Principal General Secretary.

Splinter groups

The Jharkhand Party was divided into several splinter groups during 1967–1972, after its merger into the

History

Formation

Post-Independence

Splinter groups

Electoral performance

Legislative Assembly election results

Working committee

List of presidents

References

Footnotes

Sources

Further reading