Congress Set for Upset Win over BJP in Jharkhand

New Delhi, December 23, 2019:

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) appears for a huge setback in the Jharkhand Assembly elections, the counting for which are currently underway. Meanwhile, the Congress-led coalition appears headed for an upset win over the saffron powerhouse.

The Rughubar Das-led BJP government, at the time of filing of this report, appears to be losing to the alliance of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha-Indian National Congress-Rashtriya Janata Dal. While the JMM-Congress-RJD coalition is leading in 40 seats (out of 81) in the ongoing election, while the BJP leads in 30.

After a lead had been established in the early rounds of counting, Congress party workers already begun celebrations at party headquarters in Delhi with crackers and playing drums.

ALSO READ: Meghalaya CM Honours National Award Winner Celine Lawai at His Residence

The seats where the Congress is leading are Barkagaon, Barhi, Pakur, Bermo, Jagannathpur, Kolebira, Manika and Bokaro while the RJD is ahead in Deoghar, Chatra, Kodarma, Chattarpur and Godda constituencies.

Meanwhile, the Congress leadership has reportedly chosen Hemant Soren as the party's candidate to become the Chief Minister.

However, the BJP is reaching out to rival parties AJSU and AVM in a last-ditch attempt to form the Government. Raghubar Das of the BJP, meanwhile, remains defiant that the party will form the Government, and has stated that his party still remains the "single largest party" in the State.

Somewhat bizarrely, the saffron party has managed to become the single largest party in two states in recently concluded elections, but failed to form government in either.

After Maharashtra where the alliance between BJP and Shiv Sena won a clear majority but failed to agree on government formation, the counting of votes on Monday for Jharkhand assembly elections shows that the BJP was leading in about 30 seats with a vote share of nearly 33%, but the party seems headed towards a loss in the State.

Support Inside Northeast (InsideNE), an independent media platform that focuses on Citizen-centric stories from Northeast India that are surprising, inspiring, cinematic and emotionally relevant.