Jharkhand Assembly Results 2019: JMM-Congress-RJD Alliance Dethrones BJP

Jharkhand Assembly Election Results 2019: The JMM-led three party alliance in Jharkhand is set to get the majority. The JMM (30), Cogress (15) and RJD (1) combine was leading in 46 of the 81 state assembly seats, while the ruling BJP nominees were ahead in 25, according to the latest trends available on the Election Commission website on Monday evening. 

Chief Minister Raghubar Das was expected to lose to BJP rebel candidate and former minister Saryu Roy by over in Jamshedpur (East) constituency. Roy is in the fray as an Independent candidate. Das has represented the seat five times since 1995.

Hemant Soren, the leader of the opposition alliance, beat his rivals in both Barhait and Dumka seats. Former deputy chief minister and AJSU Party president Sudesh Mahto was leading from his traditional Silli seat. Former chief minister and JVM(P) president Babulal Marandi was leading in Dhanwar seat.

A party or a coalition of parties needs 41 seats for a simple majority in the House of 81.

The JMM and the Congress-RJD combine had contested the 2014 assembly elections separately. The three parties were, however, part of the coalition government led by JMM leader Hemant Soren from 2013 to 2014 before the elections took place. They parted ways over seat-sharing arrangements. The BJP, on the other hand, is contesting the assembly polls all by itself for the first time since the creation of Jharkhand in the year 2000, having always gone to the hustings with the AJSU party. The two parties failed to iron out their differences on the number of seats each would contest this time.

Exit Polls Proved Correct

Exit polls had predicted that the pre-poll alliance of Congress, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and the Rashtriya Janata Dal as likely to emerge as the single largest coalition and may go on to form majority in the assembly.

The approximate voter turnout for all the 81 assembly constituencies across the five phases was 65.17 per cent, compared to the 66.53 per cent recorded in the 2014 elections. Out of 81 assembly seats in the states, elections concluded in 65 constituencies in the previous four phases between November 30 and December 16 while the last phase was held on December 23. An EC note said, altogether 1,088 male candidates, 127 women nominees and one third-gender candidate were in the fray for the 81 seats.