Jharkhand polls: JMM-led INDIA bloc leading in 50 seats, NDA ahead in 30

Ranchi: JMM-led INDIA bloc was leading in 50 of the 81 assembly seats in Jharkhand while the NDA was ahead in 30, according to trends available on the Election Commission's website on Saturday.

Counting of votes began at 8 AM.

According to trends, INDIA bloc was leading in 50 seats — JMM 30, Congress 14 and allies 6 — and NDA in 30 till noon.

Chief Minister Hemant Soren was leading in the Barhait assembly constituency by a margin of 8,202 votes over BJP’s Gamliyel Hembrom after the third round of counting.

JMM legislator and wife of Jharkhand CM Kalpana Soren was trailing by 3,019 votes against BJP’s Muniya Devi after fourth round.

BJP state chief Babulal Marandi was leading by 8,720 votes over CPIML’s Rajkumar Yadav after second round of counting.

Former CM and BJP nominee Champai Soren was leading by 8,542 votes in Seraikela against JMM's Ganesh Mahli after third round.

Leader of Opposition Amar Kumar Bauri of BJP was trailing by 12,301 votes in Chanadankiyari seat against JMM’s Umakant Rajak after fifth round of counting.

Congress Minister Banna Gupta was trailing by a margin of 12,139 votes against JDU’s Saryu Roy in Jamshedpur West seat.

NDA ally AJSU Party supremo Sudesh Mahto was trailing by 6,704 votes over JMM's Amit Kumar in Silli.

In Jaganathpur, former MP and BJP nominee Geeta Kora was trailing by 4,236 votes against Congress' Sonaram Sinku after fourth round of counting.

JMM's Ramsurya Munda in Khunti was leading by 12,619 votes over BJP's Neelkanth Singh Munda.

Congress minister Rameshwar Oraon was ahead in Lohardaga by 5,068 votes over AJSU Party's Niru Shanti Bhagat after the fifth round of counting.

The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) emerged as a surprise element in the elections with its candidates leading in five of the six seats where it contested.

In 2019, RJD had secured only the Chatra seat where its nominee Satyanand Bhokta won.

In Deoghar, RJD’s Suresh Paswan was leading by 19,581 votes over his nearest rival and BJP sitting MLA Narayan Das after the third round of counting.

RJD’s Sanjay Prasad Yadav was ahead by 19,867 votes in Godda over BJP MLA Amit Kumar Mandal after the sixth round of counting.

In Koderma, RJD nominee Subhash Prasad Yadav, who was out on bail, was leading by a margin of 3,471 votes over BJP’s sitting legislator Neera Yadav.

Subhas Prasad Yadav, considered to be one of the close aides of RJD supremo Lalu Prasad, was recently granted bail by the Supreme Court in a money laundering case.

Party’s Naresh Prasad Singh was leading by 5,159 votes after the fourth round of counting over BJP’s Bishrampur MLA Ramchandra Chandravanshi.

RJD's Sanjay Kumar Singh Yadav was also leading from Hussainabad by 8,213 votes after the fourth round of counting over BJP MLA Kamlesh Kumar Singh.

Party’s candidate Rashmi Prakash, however, was trailing in Chatra by 3,776 votes.

Bhokta did not contest the elections this time, and his daughter-in-law Prakash was given a ticket.

The results will decide the electoral fate of a total of 1,211 candidates, including Chief Minister Hemant Soren who contested from Barhait, his wife Kalpana from Gandey, former CM and BJP state president Babulal Marandi from Dhanwar and ex-CM Champai Soren from Seraikela.

Other prominent candidates include Speaker Rabindra Nath Mahato of the JMM from Nala, Deepika Pandey Singh of Congress from Mahagama, Sita Soren (sister-in-law of CM Hemant Soren) from Jamtara, AJSU Party chief Sudesh Mahto from Silli.

Chief Electoral Officer K Ravi Kumar said the counting is underway amid tight security arrangements and is likely to be completed by 4 PM.

The assembly elections were held in two phases - November 13 and 20. Forty-three seats went to polls in the first round and 38 in the second.