The election noise of the first phase of assembly elections in Jharkhand stopped on Monday evening. In the first phase, voting is on Wednesday for 43 seats in 15 districts. In this phase, 1.37 crore voters will decide the fate of 683 candidates on 43 assembly seats. In this way, voting will end on more than half the seats in the state and with it the direction of power will also become clear. This is the reason why India Alliance and NDA have put in full force.
In the first phase of Jharkhand, out of 43 seats, maximum 14 seats are from Kolhan region. Apart from this, 13 seats are from South Chhotanagpur, 9 seats from Palamu and 7 seats from North Chhotanagpur region. Out of the 43 seats in the state for which elections are held in the first phase, 20 seats are reserved for Scheduled Tribes and six seats are reserved for Scheduled Castes. Apart from this, there are remaining 17 general seats.
Whose and how many candidates in the first phase?
In the first phase, various parties and independent candidates are in the fray, but the main contest will be between the BJP-led NDA and the India Alliance. The BJP-led NDA includes AJSU, JDU and LJP (R). At the same time, JMM, Congress, RJD and left parties are contesting the elections together in the India alliance.
In the first phase, JMM has fielded its candidates on 23 seats, while Congress is contesting on 17 seats. RJD has fielded its candidates on 5 seats, out of which two are against the Grand Alliance candidate. A friendly fight is taking place between Congress and RJD on these two assembly seats. At the same time, BJP candidates are trying their luck on 36 out of 43 seats under NDA. After this, four candidates of Sudesh Mahato’s AJSU, two candidates of Nitish Kumar’s JDU and one seat of Chirag Paswan’s LJP (R) are in the fray.
What was at stake in the first phase?
If we look at the 43 seats on which elections are to be held in the first phase of Jharkhand, in terms of 2019 elections, JMM was successful in winning the maximum number of seats and after that BJP has got the seats. Under the leadership of Hemant Soren, JMM won 17 seats and Congress won 8 seats. NCP and RJD won one seat each. At the same time, BJP had won 13 assembly seats and JVM had won one seat. Apart from this, independent MLAs were elected on two seats.
The Grand Alliance had ousted BJP from power by winning 27 seats, but this time the political situation has changed. BJP has made alliance with AJSU, JDU and Chirag Paswan’s LJP. In this way, the real test in the first phase will be for the alliance of Hemant Soren and Congress. BJP wants to return to power by winning most of the 43 seats in this phase, for which it is keeping special focus on tribal votes.
Who are the special faces of the first phase?
The popular seats in the first phase of Jharkhand elections include Seraikela, Ranchi, Jamshedpur West, Jagannathpur and Jamshedpur East. Talking about special faces, former Chief Minister Champai Soren is contesting from Seraikela seat, but this time he is trying his luck on BJP ticket instead of JMM. In Jamshedpur East, Congress’s Ajay Kumar is contesting against BJP candidate Purnima Das, daughter-in-law of former Chief Minister Raghubar Das.
Former Chief Minister Madhu Koda’s wife and BJP candidate Geeta Koda is contesting against Congress leader Sona Ram Sinku on Jagannathpur seat. JMM’s Rajya Sabha MP Mahua Maji is contesting against Chandreshwar Prasad Singh (CP Singh), MLA since 1996 and senior BJP leader, on the Ranchi seat. In Jamshedpur West, Congress Health Minister Banna Gupta is facing JDU leader Saryu Roy. Saryu Roy had defeated the then Chief Minister Raghubar Das from Jamshedpur East seat in the 2019 elections. This time he has contested the elections by changing his seat.
Preparation for first phase of voting
For the first phase, a total of 1 crore 37 lakh 10 thousand 717 voters will decide the fate of 683 candidates contesting at 15 thousand 344 booths of 43 assembly seats from 7 am on Wednesday. In the first phase, the total voters include 68 lakh 73 thousand 455 men, 68 lakh 36 thousand 959 women and 303 third gender.
Chief Electoral Officer K Ravi Kumar has said that election preparations have been completed. He said that all necessary arrangements have been made at the polling station. Apart from the model booth, there will be web casting facility from all the polling stations, through which monitoring will be done from the Commission and the District Headquarters Control Room. In such a situation, there is a direct contest between BJP and JMM, while Congress also has a litmus test. In such a situation, the responsibility for power has to be decided from the seats in the first phase.
