Jharkhand: Hemant Soren leads from both seats, seeks blessings from father Shibu Soren

Even as Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader Hemant Soren is leading from both Barhait and Dumka seat, he sought blessing from his father and former CM of Jharkhand Shibu Soren on Sunday. He met his father at his residence in Ranchi. As the trends show that JMM alliance is leading, Hemant Soren is all set to be the next CM of the state. The same was reiterated by RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav earlier in the day. 

Hemant Soren had contested from the same seats in 2014. While he did not have much luck in Dumka, he won from the Barhait seat and went on to become the Leader of Opposition.

After the Jharkhand assembly polls were over, Soren took to Twitter and said, "I addressed 182 rallies, public meetings road shows besides innumerable corner meetings. We could not give advertisement in newspapers and TV channels because we are the voice of the poor and the exploited. We do not have money power. BJP fielded army of star campaigners from other states. BJP-AJSU spent money like flowing water in this election. But it was not me, but people of Jharkhand who were contesting this election."

Meanwhile, as the official trend from the Election Commission shows that BJP is trailing in Jharkhand, sources said that the saffron party has reached out to AJSU. Sources also said that it has offered the deputy CM post to AJSU. Both the parties had a fallout ahead of elections in the state and fielded their individual candidates. 

READ | Jharkhand Poll Results: BJP offers dy CM post to old alliance partner AJSU, say sources

Polling in 5 phases:

The Jharkhand assembly elections recorded the overall voter turnout of 65.17% compared to the 66.53% recorded in the 2014 elections. For the first time since Jharkhand's creation 19 years ago, Assembly elections to all the 81 seats passed off without violence by Maoists. Of the 5,389 polling stations in the state, 396 in maoist -affected areas were marked "critical" and 208 as "sensitive". 1,088 male candidates, 27  women nominees, and one third-gender candidate were in the fray for the 81 seats.

Jharkhand Assembly Poll Results HERE 

Key battles

CM Raghubar Das, eyeing a sixth consecutive win from Jamshedpur East faces BJP rebel and former minister Saryu Rai, who is contesting as an independent candidate. Rai was instrumental in exposing former Bihar CM Lalu Yadav in the fodder scam and exposed the multi-crore  Iron Ore Mines allotment scam under former Jharkhand CM Madhu Koda. Meanwhile,  BJP state president Laxman Gilua who lost the Lok Sabha polls in May 2019 in spite of the larger mandate the BJP won, faces a tough battle against JMM incumbent Shashihbushan Samad for Chakradharpur. Another interesting battle is between incumbent BJP MLA Sanjeev Singh's wife and her widowed sister-in-law Purnima Singh who is fighting on a Congress ticket for the Jharia seat. The incumbent MLA Sanjeev Singh is being tried for killing his political rival and cousin Niraj Singh.

The last Jharkhand state polls in 2014 BJP sweep the elections after the first Modi wave winning 37 seats. Along with an alliance with AJSU and some defected JVM MLAs, the BJP successfully formed the government ushering Jharkhand's first non-tribal CM. The JMM which had held the government in the state managed to win only 19 seats, while the Congress was left with only 6 seats.

Jharkhand Polls: Akhilesh Yadav takes a jibe at BJP, warns of repeat in UP, Bihar, & WB