NEW DELHI: The stage is set for first phase of voting on 43 assembly seats in Jharkhand spread over 15 districts. The Phase 1 of elections in the state on Wednesday will decide the fate of several key leaders, including former chief minister Champai Soren who is contesting on a BJP ticket after ending his over four decades of association with the JMM. Chief minister Hemant Soren is going all out to retain power and faces a stiff challenge from the BJP which is keen to regain power after 5 years. Both the ruling ruling JMM-led INDIA bloc and the BJP led a high-decibel often bitter campaign to woo voters, especially tribals who hold the key in several seats.
Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who has anchored BJP’s campaign in the state, has made Bangladeshi infiltration a key poll issue. Led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, all senior BJP leaders have attacked the Hemant Soren government for encouraging infiltration for political gains. Hemant Soren, with the help of Congress’s top leadership, has countered BJP’s offensive by accusing the saffron party of spreading the poison of communalism in the state.
The BJP, which has ruled the state longest since it was carved off from Bihar in 2000, was voted out of power in 2019 as it could win only 25 of the 81 seats in Jharkhand assembly. The JMM, led by chief minister Hemant Soren, won 30 seats five years back and emerged as the single largest party. It joined hands with the Congress (16 seats) and Lalu Prasad’s RJD, which had one seat, to lead a coalition government for five years. Hemant Soren, who had to quit the top post briefly after his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in an alleged corruption case, returned on time to lead the INDIA bloc campaign and is confident that people of the state will give him another term.
Key seats:
- Seraikella: Former chief minister and BJP candidate Champai Soren
- Jamshedpur East: Congress’ Ajoy Kumar pitted against Purnima Das Sahu, daughter-in-law of former Jharkhand chief minister and current Odisha governor Raghubar Das
- Jamshedpur West: Congress’s health minister Banna Gupta facing off against JD(U) leader Saryu Roy, who defeated Raghubar Das, who was then chief minister in 2019
- Jaganathpur: BJP’s Geeta Koda, wife of former chief minister Madhu Koda pitted against Congress leader Sona Ram Sinku
- Ranchi: JMM has fielded sitting Rajya Sabha MP Mahua Maji against BJP’s 6-time MLA CP Singh
List of 43 constituencies going to polls in Jharkhand Phase 1
1. Kodarma
2. Barkatha
3. Barhi
4. Barkagaon
5. Hazaribagh
6. Simaria (SC)
7. Chatra (SC)
8. Baharagora
9. Ghatsila (ST)
10. Potka (ST)
11. Jugsalai (SC)
12. Jamshedpur East
13. Jamshedpur West
14. Ichagarh
15. Seraikella (ST)
16. Chaibasa (ST)
17. Majhgaon (ST)
18. Jaganathpur (ST)
19. Manoharpur (ST)
20. Chakradharpur (ST)
21. Kharsawan (ST)
22. Tamar (ST)
23. Torpa (ST)
24. Khunti (ST)
25. Ranchi
26. Hatia
27. Kanke (SC)
28. Mandar (ST)
29. Sisai (ST)
30. Gumla (ST)
31. Bishunpur (ST)
32. Simdega (ST)
33. Kolebira (ST)
34. Lohardaga (ST)
35. Manika (ST)
36. Latehar (SC)
37. Panki
38. Daltonganj
39. Bishrampur
40. Chhatarpur (SC)
41. Hussainabad
42. Garhwa
43. Bhawanathpur
| YEAR | PARTY | SEAT SHARE | VOTE SHARE (%) |
| 2009 | BJP | 18 | 20 |
| JMM | 18 | 15 | |
| CONG | 14 | 16 | |
| 2014 | BJP | 37 | 31.8 |
| JMM | 19 | 20.8 | |
| CONG | 6 | 10.6 | |
| AJSU | 5 | 3.7 | |
| 2019 | BJP | 25 | 33.8 |
| JMM | 30 | 19 | |
| CONG | 16 | 14.1 | |
| AJSU | 2 | 8.2 |
(With agency inputs)