2019 Lok Sabha Election Results for Jharkhand: NDA wins 12 seats, leaving UPA with 2 seats only

Jharkhand is part of the economically weaker eastern part of the country and faces a big developmental gap in efforts to catch up with more developed states. Considering this factor, Jharkhand presented a litmus test for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) this election season. The party which won 12 out of the state’s 14 parliamentary seats in 2014 faced an alliance of Congress and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) which put up a strong fight.

Results 2019 Lok Sabha:

NDA sweeps the state winning 12 seats, while UPA was left with  2 seats 

KEY LEADERS IN FRAY:

Three former Chief Ministers of Jharkhand had joined the contest for the Lok Sabha seats in the state. Arjun Munda of the BJP, Babulal Marandi of JVM-P and Shibu Soren JMM will be contesting the elections from Khuti, Koderma and Dumka seats, respectively.

Jharkhand Water Resources Minister Chandraprakash Choudhary, the Ajsu party leader and BJP-led NDA candidate, was pitted against Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) MLA Jagarnath Mahato Giridih seat.

Sitting BJP MP P N Singh faced Congress candidate Kirti Azad from Dhanbad while another BJP parliamentarian B B Mahato contested against JMM MLA Champai Soren from Jamshedpur.

Former chief minister Madhu Koda's wife Gita Koda was nominated by the Congress from Singhbhum (ST) against the BJP's state unit president and MP Laxman Gilua.

LESSON FROM 2014:

In 2014, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) registered its biggest ever victory in Jharkhand, winning 12 out of the 14 seats in the state. The BJP polled 40.7% of the total votes polled, 16.1 percentage points more than what the alliance of Congress, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) could manage.

However, in 2019 the opposition seemed to have learnt its lessons from the 2014 debacle in the battle for 2019. Jharkhand was probably the only state where the BJP was pitted against a grand alliance. Not only did the Congress, JMM and the RJD joined hands once again, they also extended their alliance to include the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (JVM), which held a significant vote share in the state.

2014 LOK SABHA ELECTIONS:

BJP scored a victory in 12 out of the 14 seats. The other two went to Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, where Shibu Soren (Dumka) and Vijay Kumar Hansdak (Rajmahal) were the winning candidates. Pashupati Nath Singh (Dhanbad), Jayant Sinha (Hazaribagh) and Karia Munda (Khunti) were prominent BJP winners. Geeta Koda was defeated by Laxman Giluwa of BJP in Singhbhum constituency.