Jharkhand Assembly Elections 2024: Jharkhand is among the states where the political landscape is very fragile. However, the state witnessed stable governments in the last decade. Before Raghubar Das-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2014, one of India's new states witnessed so much volatility in the political circle. The Raghubar Das government was the first regime to complete its full term. As Jharkhand voted to elect its next government, people hoped that the next government would be a majority government which may last for five years.
INDIA vs NDA in Jharkhand polls 2024
The ruling JMM-led INDIA bloc and the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance are engaged in a fierce battle in the elections in the state. The JMM-led coalition is seeking to retain power riding on its welfare schemes, while the saffron party has raised the election pitch raising the issues of Hindutva, “infiltration from Bangladesh and corruption” of the current dispensation. Top BJP leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, BJP present JP Nadda and chief ministers of several states addressed a number of rallies where they attacked the JMM-led coalition over corruption and infiltration. While, INDIA bloc leaders including Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, party president Mallikarjun Kharge, Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren and his wife and legislator Kalpana Soren campaigned extensively, promising welfare schemes and accusing the BJP-led Centre of "unleashing" ED and CBI against the rival parties.
This time, as far as NDA is concerned, BJP has fielded candidates in 68 seats while allies AJSU Party in 10, JD(U) in two and Lok Janshakti (Ram Vilas) in one. Of the INDIA bloc, JMM has fielded candidates in 43 seats, Congress 30, RJD 6 and CPI(ML) 4 with friendly fights on some seats.
What happened in 2019
In 2019, the JMM-led alliance bagged 47 seats, wresting power from the saffron party in the state. The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (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.
What happened in 2014?
Jharkhand Assembly election 2014 was a decisive election, the BJP-led NDA formed a government after defeating Hemant Soren-led government. The BJP provided Jharkhand its first government which completed its full term.
The saffron party contested 72 seats and won 37 with vote share 31.26 per cent in the Jharkhand Assembly elections 2024. The Congress fielded 62 candidates in the election but managed to win only 6 seats with a vote share 10.46 per cent. Lalu Prasad Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) nominated 19 candidates but failed to open an account in Bihar's neighbouring state. Another regional party AJSUP, now an ally of BJP, contested 8 seats and won 5 of them with vote share 3.68 per cent. Hemant Soren's JMM contested 79 seats and got victories in 19 with vote share 20.43 per cent. Babulal Marand's JVM, which later merged with the BJP, nominated 73 candidates but managed to bag only 8 seats with vote share 9.99 per cent.
Jharkhand Assembly Elections 2024
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.
