Jharkhand Verdict May Stay Thriller Script with Low Margin Norm

Spread the love

Jharkhand See-Saw Trends Stay Norm for Decades in Election Verdicts

By Manish Anand

New Delhi, November 23: The final indication of the victory of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM)-led alliance in the 2019 state Assembly elections had come around late afternoon. Until then, the BJP and the JMM had seen see-saw battles as the counting of votes had progressed.

Television commentators in 2019 on several occasions had declared victory of the BJP. But the JMM urged to taken an eventual lead to emerge winner in the 2019 elections.

Hemant Soren was seen cycling as the JMM began edging past in the 2019 Assembly elections against the BJP. Only after the trend established the victory of the JMM-led alliance, Hemant Soren reached his father Shibu Soren to take blessings.

Also Read: Babulal Marandi Faces Verdict on Jharkhand BJP Leadership

There were nine Assembly seats where the victory margins in the 2019 elections were lower than 5000 votes. In the 81-member Assembly, Jharkhand is known to be give a see-saw trend while counting of votes progress.

“In 24-year of the existence of Jharkhand, no political party has ever got a majority in the state. The BJP winning 37 Assembly seats in the 2014 elections remains the highest for any party so far. This explains reasons why Jharkhand is known for political instability,” said Prafulla Singh, a Daltonganj-based political observer.

Jharkhand has seen political stability only in the last one decade. Ragubar Das remains the only chief minister who completed his full term. The incumbent JMM-led government also completes the full term but with two chief ministers in the last five years.

There are Assembly seats in Jharkhand where the victory margins had been less than 1000 votes in the 2019 elections. Bhushan Bara of the Congress had won the Simdega Assembly seat in the 2019 elections with a margin of just 285 votes.

Also Read: Long Night in Jharkhand as Suspense Builds up Ahead of Counting

There were several Assembly seats on which four-cornered contests took place in the elections. The Jharkhand political space presents a crowded scene.

The BJP leads an alliance which consists of the AJSU (All Jharkhand Students Union), the JD (U), and the LJP. The JMM leads an alliance that consists of the Congress, the RJD, and the CPI (ML).

Besides, Jairam ‘Tiger’ Mahto with his JKML is also in the electoral ring. In addition, there were several independent candidates who challenged the official nominees of the established political parties.

A media report listed as many as 40 candidates linked to former and incumbent chief ministers and ministers contesting the Jharkhand Assembly elections. This triggered a large number of rebels throwing their hats in the electoral ring.
Join the WhatsApp Channel of The Raisina Hills

Share on Facebook

Save

About The Author

Manish Anand

Manish Anand is a senior journalist with more than two decades of hardcore reporting on beats such as Prime Minister’s Office, Parliament, BJP, Congress, Planning Commission, NITI Aayog, and scores of Union Ministries.

His past has been with The New Indian Express, The Asian Age/Deccan Chronicle, and The Statesman.

For about 15 years, Manish was also a regular commentator and host for talks on AIR on foreign affairs.

See author's posts