Jharkhand voted to elect its new government in two phases and the polling concluded on November 20. The counting of votes will be held on November 23. However, the exit polls will start predicting the results in Jharkhand after 6 pm on Wednesday itself. The clear contest in Jharkhand this time is between the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and the BJP. Jharkhand registered a voting percentage of 64.86% in the first phase and close to 68% in the second phase of voting.
The elections are a matter of political survival and prominence for the JMM and Hemant Soren. For the BJP, the outcome in Jharkhand holds importance as it would mean that the saffron party will be wresting another state from the opposition led INDIA alliance.
In the 2019 assembly elections, the JMM won 30 seats and the BJP emerged as the second largest party with 25 seats. The Congress, in alliance with the JMM won 16 seats and the JVM won 3 seats in the 81 members house. The JMM then joined hands with the Congress to form government in the state and Hemant Soren was sworn-in as the chief minister.
