Jamtara Assembly Election Results: According to the Election Commission of India, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate and Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren's sister-in-law Sita Soren lost the seat to Irfan Ansari from Congress by 43,676 votes. Irfan polled 1,33,266 votes while Soren garnered 89,590 votes.
In the next few hours it will be clear whether Sita Soren, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren's sister-in-law's move to join the Bharatiya Janata Party fructified or not. Voting in Jamtara took place in the second phase on November 20.
The Jamtara Assembly constituency is one of the 81 constituencies in the Jharkhand Legislative Assembly. It is constituency number 09 of the Jharkhand Legislative Assembly. The constituency is a general seat not reserved for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs). Jamtara is one of the 6 assembly segments of Dumka (ST) Parliament Seat. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and the Congress are the main parties in the constituency. Irfan Ansari from Congress currently represents the Jamtara seat.
BJP's Sita Soren vs Congress' MLA Irfan Ansari
The key candidates for the Jamtara Assembly seat are Congress' incumbent MLA Irfan Ansari and BJP's Sita Soren. Other candidates include BSP's Arif Ansari, NCP's Baleshwar Mandal, Jharkhand Loktantrik Krantikari Morcha's Tarun Gupta, CPI (M) candidate Lakhan Lal Mandal, HPP (Democratic) candidate Kuldip Yadav and JPP's Ahmad Hussain. However, the main contest is between Ansari and Sita Soren. Soren is the daughter-in-law of Shibu Soren and the wife of the late Durga Soren. She left JMM accusing the party of not providing her adequate support after the demise of Durga Soren. She later joined the BJP. On the other hand, Irfan Ansari is a two-time MLA from the seat.
What happened in the 2019 and 2014 Assembly Elections
In the 2019 Jamtara Assembly election, Congress candidate, Irfan Ansari from Congress won the seat with a margin of 38,741 votes (18.5%). He was polled 1,12,829 votes with a vote share of 53.11%. He defeated Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Birendra Mandal, who got 74,088 votes (34.87%). Independent candidate Tarun Kumar Gupta stood third with 6,219 votes (2.93%). The total number of valid votes polled was 2,09,420 (75.55%).
In the 2014 Jamtara Assembly election, Congress candidate Irfan Ansari won the seat. He was polled 67,486 votes with a vote share of 35.18%. BJP candidate Birendra Mandal got 58349 votes (30.42%) and was the runner-up. Ansari defeated Mandal by a margin of 9137 votes (4.76%). The total number of valid votes polled in this constituency was 1,87,831 (78.63%). JMM candidate Bishnu Prasad Bhaiya came in third with 52029 votes (27.12%)
Jharkhand Assembly Elections
The elections took place in two phases, on November 13 and November 20. According to the Election Commission of India's data, about 2.60 crore electors, including 11.84 lakh first-time voters and 1.13 lakh persons with disabilities, third-gender individuals, and senior citizens over 85, were eligible to exercise their franchise. The BJP, which lost power to the JMM-led alliance in Jharkhand in 2019, is looking to reclaim its position in the tribal-dominated state.
In 2019, the ruling JMM-led alliance bagged 47 seats, wresting power from the saffron party in the state. The JMM had secured 30 seats, while the Congress bagged 16, and the RJD one seat. The BJP had managed to win 25 seats, JVM-P three, AJSU Party two, and the CPI-ML and NCP one each, besides two Independents emerging victorious.
