The stage is set for the first phase of Jharkhand assembly elections. Voting will be held on 43 out of 81 seats in the state on November 13. Voting for the remaining seats of Jharkhand will take place after seven days. This will also be the voting for all the 288 assembly seats of Maharashtra. Voting is taking place in 43 assembly constituencies of 15 districts. Voting will run from 7 am to 5 pm. 683 candidates are in the electoral fray in all these assembly constituencies. These include 17 general seats, 20 reserved for Scheduled Tribes and six reserved for Scheduled Castes. According to the Election Commission of India (ECI), more than 200 companies of security forces have been deployed at key locations to ensure order and security of the electoral process. 683 candidates, including 73 women, are competing for seats in this phase.
Jharkhand elections: major parties
The ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), a member of the opposition India Bloc, will take on the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). NDA’s allies in the Jharkhand assembly elections are All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) and Janata Dal (United), while the India block is represented by JMM, Congress, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Left parties.
In the 2019 Jharkhand Assembly elections, Hemant Soren-led JMM won 30 seats, BJP 25 and Congress 16 seats. An alliance of JMM, Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal formed the government, with Soren assuming the role of Chief Minister.
Major candidates and contests
Among the prominent leaders whose fate will be decided in the first phase of Jharkhand elections, former Chief Minister Champai Soren, Health Minister Banna Gupta, Rajya Sabha MP Mahua Maji, Geeta Koda (wife of former Chief Minister Madhu Koda) and Purnima Das, daughter-in-law of former Chief Minister Raghubar Das. Are included.
Former CM and BJP candidate Champai Soren is contesting from Seraikela seat, which he has held since 2005. Champai took over the role of Chief Minister after the arrest of Hemant Soren in January 2024. Now he is facing competition from JMM’s Ganesh Mahali.
BJP’s Geeta Koda, wife of former CM Madhu Koda, is contesting against Congress leader Sona Ram Sinku in Jagannathpur.
JMM’s Mahua Maji, who is a Rajya Sabha MP, is challenging BJP’s CP Singh on Ranchi seat.
In Jamshedpur East, Congress candidate Ajay Kumar is facing off against Purnima Das Sahu, daughter-in-law of former Jharkhand CM and current Odisha Governor Raghubar Das. In Jamshedpur West, Congress health minister Banna Gupta is pitted against JD(U) leader Saryu Roy, who had defeated then CM Raghubar Das in 2019.
Jharkhand elections: voting date and time
Voting began at 7 am in 43 constituencies, for which 15,344 polling stations have been set up across the state. Of these, 12,716 centers are in rural areas and 2,628 in urban centres. Voting will generally end by 5 pm, except in 950 locations where polling will end at 4 pm. However, voters already in line at the time of voting will still be allowed to vote.
The election body has said that 1,152 polling stations will be managed exclusively by women, and personnel with disabilities will be deployed at 24 centres. Speaking to reporters, Chief Electoral Officer K Ravi Kumar said that since the implementation of the Model Code of Conduct, officials have seized illegal goods and cash worth Rs 179.14 crore and 54 cases of alleged violations have been registered.
