Jharkhand seems to be slipping from the BJP’s hands as the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and Congress alliance crossed the majority, shooting ahead of the ruling BJP i.e. 42 seats to 28 as votes for the Jharkhand election are being counted.
Jharkhand Election Results Live Updates
However, Chief Minister Raghubar Das remained confident that the BJP will retain the government in the state. He said, “The margins are very narrow… so narrow that it can completely turn the leads as what you see at the moment. Those who are celebrating can do what they feel. No one can stop someone from celebrating.” Meanwhile he is leading in Jamshedpur East, a seat that he has been winning since 1995.
A party needs to get 41 seats to form government in the state. The election was held in five phases between November 30 and December 20. The tenure of the current Assembly ends on January 5, 2020. This is the fourth Assembly election in Jharkhand since the state was carved out of Bihar in 2000. According to the Election Commission of India, the approximate voter turnout for all the 81 assembly constituencies across the five phases was 65.17 per cent as compared to the 66.53 per cent recorded in the 2014 elections. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), Congress, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), All Jharkhand Students’ Union (AJSU) and Jharkhand Vikas Morcha-Prajatantrik (JVM-P) are among the major political parties which are in the fray in the tribal-dominated state.
Counting of votes for 81 Jharkhand Assembly seats has begun today on December 23, 2019 at 8 am. Meanwhile, the electorate of Jharkhand is such that it has never allowed a CM to have a repeat term. No former Jharkhand CM has been able to break this record.
AT 8:30 AM, as counting for the 2019 Jharkhand assembly election results began, early trends indicated that the Congress-JMM alliance is leading on 24 seats while the BJP is leading on 18 seats. Other key players — JVM and AJSU are leading on 2 and 4 seats respectively. Early trends were:
BJP’s Raghubar Das (Jamshedpur East): Leading
JVM’s Babulal Marandi (Dhanwar): Leading
JMM’s Hemant Soren (Dumka): Leading
JMM’s Hemant Soren (Barhait): Leading
AJSU’s Sudesh Kumar Mahto (Silli): Leading
IND Saryu Rai (Jamshedpur East): Trailing
Congress’s Gourav Vallabh (Jamshedpur East): Trailing
BJP’s Lois Marandi (Dumka): Trailing
At 9:00 AM, JMM working president Hemant Soren leads over state Welfare (Women & Child Development and Minority Affairs) Minister Lois Marandi after counting of postal ballots in Dumka seat in Jharkhand.
As counting of votes for 81 Assembly constituencies in Jharkhand begins, the BJP says victory is definite. Assured of BJP victory, BJP MP from Ranchi Sanjay Seth has said. Another BJP leader, Zafar Islam, is cautious. He says, These are early trends, we will wait till 10.
As BJP’s Plan B, as per the sources, the party high command has reached out to AJSU Chief Sudesh Mahto and JVM chief Babulal Marandi. BJP’s Jharkhand election in-charge Om Mathur reached Ranchi on Sunday night.
At 9:30 AM, the Election Commission has updated trends for 10 seats in the Jharkhand assembly polls and the trends suggest that the Congress-JMM-RJD alliance is leading on 6 seats, the BJP on 3 and the AJSU on one. Early trends show the BJP is tipped to get 21 while the Jharkhand Multi Morcha-Congress-RJD alliance is slated to get 39 seats. The majority mark is 41.
At 9:45 AM, counting of votes for the first round complete. BJP’s Louis Marandi leading by 3209 seats, JMM’s Hemant Soren trailing in Dumka. Official Election Commission trends for 37 seats: BJP leading on 13 seats, Congress on 7, RJD on 3, JMM on 10, AJSU and BSP on 2 seats each.
AT 10:00 AM, the voting trends suggest that the JMM-Congress-RJD alliance has crossed the majority mark in Jharkhand. The grand alliance is currently leading on 42 of 81 seats while the BJP is maintaining leads on 29 seats.
Meanwhile, After the BJP reached out to JVM, Congress leader and Jharkhand in-charge RPN Singh told India Today TV, “We are in touch with the JVM leadership. We have had a word with their leader.”
Sources said that the Congress is also in touch with 2 MLAs of the AJSU. The sources suggest that Congress hopes to pick up six seats in places where the alliance is trailing by 300 to 400 votes.
At 10:30 AM, trends suggest that the JMM-Congress alliance can be sure of obtaining a majority in Jharkhand. The grand alliance is currently leading on 40 seats while the BJP trails on 29 seats. The JVM and AJSU are leading on 4 and 2 seats respectively.
JVP party chief Babulal Marandi told, “We will decide anything only after the full results are out.”
On reports of talks with the BJP, former CM Marandi said, “No formal talks have taken place with the BJP yet. However, no one is untouchable in politics for us.”
At 11:00 AM, JVM’s Babulal Marandi leading from Dhanwar assembly seat by 2841 votes. He said, “The results are not as per our expectation. We will have to accept people’s mandate. We will play the role which people’s mandate has given us. Let the results come, then we will sit and discuss what to do.”
Meanwhile, the ruling BJP leading in 28 of 62 constituencies in 81-seat Jharkhand Assembly, opposition JMM leading in 25 seats, Congress in nine, RJD in 5.
At 11:30 AM, as trends suggest a clean sweep for the JMM-Congress alliance in Jharkhand, Congress workers have started their celebrations at the party HQ in Delhi. Congress workers can be seen bursting crackers and distributing sweets. We bring you visuals.
At 12:00 PM, Reacting to the impending BJP defeat in Jharkhand, former MP CM and BJP leader Shivraj Chouhan said, “Jharkhand election was fought on local issues and not national issues. It can’t be seen in the light of national events. Jharkhand elections won’t affect polls in other states as every state has its own issues.”
The JMM-Congress-RJD opposition alliance in Jharkhand is leading in 42 out of the 81 seats of state Assembly, while the ruling BJP is ahead in 28 seats.
The JMM is leading in 24 seats while its alliance partner Congress is ahead in 13 and the RJD in five.
The JVM(P) is ahead in four seats while the AJSU Party is leading in three constituencies. The CPI-ML(Liberation) and the NCP are leading in one seat each while independent candidates are ahead in two constituencies.
Meanwhile, the Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das said, “Let me clearly state that we’re not only winning but we’ll also form govt under the leadership of BJP in the state.”
Raghubar Das further said: “These trends are not the final word. There are more rounds of counting to be held. It will not be correct to comment on these trends. I will hold a press conference later in Ranchi.”
At 12:30 PM, Jharkhand CM and BJP candidate from Jamshedpur East, Raghubar Das is now trailing. Independent candidate Saryu Rai is leading by 771 votes.
With the opposition JMM-Congress-RJD alliance currently leading on 43 Assembly seats, it seems clear that JMM working president Hemant Soren is going to be the next chief minister of Jharkhand.
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