JMM-led alliance wins majority in Jharkhand: AIMIM fails to open account

Hyderabad: The alliance of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM)-Congress (INC)- Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) swept the state of Jharkhand. Out of the 81 assembly seats, the JMM led alliance won 47 seats. Meanwhile, Asaduddin Owaisi-led All India Majilis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) failed to win any of the eight seats it contested in the state elections. The party, which recently won the Kishanganj assembly seat in Bihar and two assembly segments in Maharashtra, however, managed to get only 1.16 percent of the total vote share in Jharkhand.

JMM emerged in 30 seats, Congress has won 16 seats, and RJD won one seat, whereas BJP could clinch only 25 seats.

The alliance leader and Chief Ministerial candidate Hemant Soren thanked the people of Jharkhand for the mandate. “ It is a joyous day for the people of Jharkhand and finally, the time has come to fulfil all your demands,” he said the media.

As the momentum appeared to be moving towards the alliance, way before the final results were out, Congress announced that the party will form the government with JMM’s Hemant Soren as Chief Minister.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Hemant Soren, who led the alliance. "Congratulations to Hemant Soren and the JMM-led alliance for the victory in the Jharkhand polls. Best wishes to them in serving the state," the Prime Minister tweeted.

Jharkhand CM and BJP candidate from Jamshedpur East constituency, Raghubar Das, meanwhile lost his seat to an independent candidate for 15,000 votes.

With major national parties in the lead, it was a six-way election battle for the state. Small regional parties including JMM, RJD and AJSU played a major part in the election. Meanwhile, BJP continues to remain the largest single party in the state.

NCP’s spoke person Nawab Mallik tweeted, “The people of Jharkhand have demolished the arrogance of Modi ji, Amit Shah and BJP.” The 81 seat Jharkhand assembly has a majority mark of 41. Elections were conducted in Jharkhand in five phases from November 20 to December 20.

For the ruling party BJP which had set a target of winning more than 65 seats, this result was crucial. BJP lost Chattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan last year, and slipped out of its grasp in Maharashtra in 2019.

In the 2014 Jharkhand state election, BJP had won 37 seats. While JSU won five seats, the Congress party was reduced to mere six.

Jharkhand accounts for around 40 per cent of lynching incidents in the country. According to reports, between May 2015 and December 2018, Jharkhand witnessed 17 of the 44 causalities of lynching across India.