NE NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, DEC 23
An opposition alliance of three parties – including the Congress – pulled ahead of the BJP and appeared poised to win a majority as votes cast in the Jharkhand assembly election were counted on Monday.
A party or alliance needs 41 seats for a majority in the 81-member House.
Counting trends published by the Election Commission showed the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) — Congress — Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) alliance winning 46 seats. There were celebrations earlier at the Congress headquarters in New Delhi.
The BJP was leading in 28 seats. These numbers fall in the ranges predicted by an India Today-Axis My India exit poll. Counting is still underway in all constituencies; none of the races have been declared.
At this stage, other parties like the AJSU and the JVM could still emerge as kingmakers.
Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das said counting trends weren’t the final word and that he would hold a press conference in Ranchi later in the day.
Hours later, Das was trailing an independent, Saryu Roy, in Jamshedpur East by over 7,400 votes. A BJP rebel, Roy was once in Raghubar Das’s cabinet.
Most of the five-phases elections were held amidst the central BJP government move for passage of controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Bill and subsequent nationwide protests following its clearance by the Parliament.
In 2014 Assembly polls, BJP had won 37 seats, JMM 19 and Congress 6 seats.
Most of the exit polls had also predicted a lead for the JMM-Congress-RJD alliance in the Assembly.
JHARKHAND ASSEMBLY ELECTION RESULTS – 2019
Jharkhand(81)
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