New Delhi: The opposition alliance of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has hit the majority mark in Jharkhand, early trends of assembly poll results indicate.
The counting of votes for the five-phase Jharkhand assembly elections that concluded on 20 December began at 8 am Monday amid tight security.
According to the latest trends, BJP is leading in 29 of the 79 seats it contested, while the Congress-JMM-RJD alliance in leading in 41 seats.
The trends show JMM is leading in 24 seats, RJD in five and Congress in 12 seats.
Former chief minister Babulal Marandi’s party Jharkhand Vikas Morcha-Prajatantrik is leading in four seats while All Jharkhand Students Union, a former ally of the BJP, is leading in three.
Among the alliance, JMM contested 43 seats, while the Congress contested 31 and RJD seven.
Saryu Roy trails
According to CNN News18, incumbent Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das is leading in Jamshedpur East seat, against his opponent and former cabinet colleague Saryu Roy. Das has not lost the Jamshedpur East seat since 1995.
Babulal Marandi, who contested from Dhanwar, is leading too.
JMM chief Hemant Soren, who contested from two seats, is trailing from Dumka but leading in Barhait, according to the early trends.
Soren had lost the Dumka seat to BJP’s Louis Marandi in the 2014 assembly election too, while his father and JMM founder Shibu Soren lost the Dumka parliamentary seat in 2019.
In 2014, BJP, which had won 37 seats, formed the government with its ally AJSU, which had won five seats. A year later, six MLAs from JVM(P) joined the BJP, taking the total strength to 48 in the 81-member assembly.
Also read: 5 reasons why Jharkhand assembly election results are crucial for BJP
All three non conventional choices for CM in October 2014 have failed to deliver. Khattarji has been very lucky to retain his chair in hot and happening Haryana.