He rose in political landscape of Jharkhand demanding the Schedule Tribe status to OBC caste- Kurmi Mahto in Jharkhand.Jai Ram Mahto now demands Z-plus security from Home Minister Amit Shah.

In a letter dated April 8, 2025, to Mr Shah, Mahto’s floated party JLKM’s Rajdesh Ratan has said that Jai Ram Mahto who had become MLA was fighting for the underprivileged, weaker sections and unemployed youth, was under attack. 

“His vehicle was stopped, stones pelted and faced targeted attack… ( Hence) he needs Z Plus security”, demands Ratan on behalf of Jai Ram Mahto.

Although the response of the Home Minister is yet to be made public, neither the JLMK MLA Jai Ram Mahto nor Rajdesh Mahto have approached the state police or the Chief Minister Hemant Soren who heads the state Home department and demanded security cover.

Experts say, the demand of Z Plus security from the Home Minister Amit Shah is part of Mahto’s strategy to raise the “ threat to his life” issue to gain sympathy among his supporters of Kurmi- Mahto caste who were learnt to be disappointed due to his failure to raise the demand of ST status for Kurmi Mahto’s.

Probably, aware that his popularity had 
contracted dramatically, Jai Ram Mahto who was projected as ‘Tiger’ Mahato deemed it fit to demand Z Plus security. 

As per the GoI sources,'Z+' security is provided by on the basis of threat assessment by Central Security Agency and is subject to examination and periodic review.

The denial can make Jai Ram Mahto spread message among people that the BJP and its leaders including Home Minister Amit Shah were against him and thereby try to create sympathy for himself. 

Records say, the 29-year-old PhD student who emerged as a prominent OBC face in Jharkhand after securing more than 3.47 lakh votes in Giridih Lok Sabha constituency as an Independent, emerged victorious in one of two assembly seats where he was on the ballot. 

In the Assembly polls 2024, the key takeaway was that candidates fielded by Mahto’s party dented the prospects of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its ally All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) in at least 6 of 18 seats where it was in the fray.

Jairam Mahato himself won in Dumri and lost in Bermo.

OBC politics in Jharkhand, where the tribal community accounts for 26 percent of the population (2011 Census), has largely been shaped by Sudesh Mahto—president of AJSU. 

The emergence of Jairam Mahato as a Kurmi leader poses a direct challenge not just to AJSU but also the JD(U), another BJP ally which enjoys the support of Kurmis, given that party chief and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar belongs to the community. Going by unofficial estimates, Kurmis make up 12-14 percent of Jharkhand’s population.

Jairam Mahato’s Jharkhand Loktantrik Krantikari Morcha (JLKM) has been viewed as jostling for the same votes as the AJSU. 

In those constituencies where BJP candidates had won in 2019 assembly polls, JKLM candidates played the role of Vote Katwa( Vote spliter) helping the ruling JMM won 34 seats.