Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
Ranchi
The JMM-led three-party alliance in Jharkhand was on Monday leading on 46 of the 81 state Assembly seats, while the ruling BJP nominees were ahead on 24, according to the latest trends available on the Election Commission website.
The JMM was leading on 29 seats, while its alliance partner Congress was ahead on 14 and the RJD on three.
Chief Minister Raghubar Das was trailing BJP rebel candidate and former minister Saryu Roy by over 4,000 votes in Jamshedpur (East) constituency. Roy is in the fray as an Independent candidate. Das has represented the seat five times since 1995.
The JVM (P) and the AJSU Party were leading in three constituencies each.
The CPI-ML (Liberation) and the NCP were leading on one seat each, while Independent candidates were ahead in two constituencies.
The JMM and the Congress-RJD combine had contested the 2014 Assembly election separately. The three parties were, however, part of the coalition government led by JMM leader Hemant Soren from 2013 to 2014 before the election took place. They parted ways over seat-sharing arrangements and the JMM chose to contest alone.
The BJP, on the other hand, is contesting the Assembly poll all by itself for the first time since the creation of Jharkhand in 2000, having always gone to the hustings with the AJSU party. The two parties failed to iron out their differences on the number of seats each would contest this time.
A party or a coalition of parties needs 41 seats for a simple majority in the House of 81.
Hemant Soren, the leader of the opposition alliance, is ahead of his rivals on both Barhait and Dumka seats.
Several BJP ministers, including CP Singh and Anil Kumar Bauri, are leading, but Raj Paliwar was trailing. Dinesh Oraon, the Speaker of the outgoing Assembly and BJP candidate, was also trailing in Madhupur.
Former deputy chief minister and AJSU Party president Sudesh Mahto was leading by 12,515 votes over JMM candidate Seema Devi from his traditional Silli seat.
Former chief minister and JVM (P) president Babulal Marandi was leading by 10,252 votes over his nearest rival Raj Kumar Yadav of the CPI-ML (Liberation) on Dhanwar seat.
The BJP’s Bihar allies–the JD (U) and LJP–contested the election on their own and none of their candidates was leading anywhere.
The BJP contested 79 seats, supported an Independent candidate in one place and did not put up nominee against AJSU Party president Sudesh Mahto.
Under a pre-poll arrangement, the JMM had the lion’s share of 43 seats, while the Congress fielded nominees in 31 constituencies and Lalu Prasad’s RJD in seven.
The Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) contested all the 81 seats. PTI
Cong workers burst crackers, distribute sweets
New Delhi: Christmas seemed to have come early at the Congress headquarters here on Monday with party workers bursting crackers and distributing sweets as trends for the Jharkhand Assembly election showed the Congress-JMM alliance ahead of the ruling BJP.
“People have voted for change,” Congress spokesperson Pranav Jha told reporters at the Congress office, anticipating a victory for the opposition alliance.
