Former Jharkhand Chief Minister Champai Soren, who joined the Bharatiya Janata Party ahead of the state assembly elections, said, he respects the mandate that has come in the polls. His reaction comes as the Election Commission of India showed the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM)-led INDIA bloc retained power in the state.
The former JMM leader contested state assembly elections from Saraikela constituency. As per the ECI's website, Soren was leading by 18,836 votes margin on the Saraikela seat.
Hemant Soren-led alliance all set to retain Jharkhand
Meanwhile, Hemant Soren's JMM-led alliance was all set to retain Jharkhand as it was leading in at least 56 seats in the 81-member state assembly, as per Election Commission data on Saturday. The performance of the BJP-led NDA, which was confident about its prospects in the state after an aggressive campaign, was poorer than its expectations.It was leading in just 23 seats.
The BJP's poll plank was driving out "infiltrators" from the Santhal Parganas region, but it seemed to have fallen flat in front of the 'Adivasi' card played by the JMM, which also sought the people's sympathy over the arrest of Chief Minister Hemant Soren. Also, bickering within the BJP over giving nominations to turncoats seemed to have cost the party.
According to the latest EC figures, the JMM was leading in 33 of the 43 seats it contested, the Congress was ahead in 16 of the 30 seats where it fielded candidates, the RJD pulled a surprise and was leading in five of the six seats it fought, while the CPI(ML) Liberation was ahead in two of the four seats it fought.
The ruling coalition witnessed friendly fights in some seats. The BJP was leading in 21 of the 68 seats it contested, while the LJP (Ram Vilas) was leading in the lone seat it fought, and the JD(U) was ahead in one of the two seats it contested. The AJSU Party was virtually wiped out with its candidates, including chief Sudesh Mahto, trailing in all 10 seats it contested. The majority mark in the assembly is 41.
