Jharkhand: Jharkhand has spoken and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha-Congress-Rashtriya Janata Dal alliance is on its way to wrest power in the state defeating Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Chief Minister Raghubar Das had the chance to create history by becoming the first leader to ensure a BJP win and come back to power for the second consecutive terms but trends show the party losing across the state.
Just before the election, BJP’s ally All Jharkhand Students Union of Sudesh Mahto broke away following differences over sharing of seats which seems to have hit the party hard. Raghubar Das faced a tough opponent in Jamshedpur East seats from BJP rebel Saryu Roy who had launched a scathing and vicious attack on the former’s working style. In 2014 Assembly election Das had won from Jamshedpur East by a massive margin of 70.157 votes but was leading by just 1,449 votes against Roy.
In the 2014 Jharkhand Assembly election, the BJP won 37 seats but as per trends at 10:45 the party was ahead in just 27 seats while the JMM-Congress-RJD alliance was leading in 41 seats which is one more than the halfway mark in the 81-member Jharkhand Assembly.
BJP has been traditionally strong in urban seats but even in Bokaro its candidate Biranchi Narayan was trailing against Congress candidate Shweta Singh who is contesting her first election. Narayan, too, has swept Bokaro in 2014 by bagging it by 72,643 votes.
The election was also proving to a happy-sad affair for JMM chief Hemant Soren who contested from two seats – Barhait and Dumka. While he was leading by a slender margin in Barhait, BJP’s Lois Marandi was ahead in Dumka.
Jharkhand Assembly election 2019 was fiercely contested with voting taking place in five rounds from November 30, December 7, 12, 16 and 20.
Bureau Report
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