Jharkhand to vote in two phases on November 13, 20; counting on November 23

Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar.

The election to the 81-member Jharkhand assembly will be held in two phases on  November 13 and 20, announced the Election Commission on Tuesday. The counting will take place on November 23, said the poll body. The current Jharkhand assembly's term will end on January 5, 2025.

In the first phase, November 13, 43 seats will go to polls, whereas in the second phase, November 20, 38 seats will go to polls.

Days ahead of the official announcement of the poll schedule in the state, two main contenders- Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) began campaigning in full steam basing their pitch on 'competitive welfarism' with a major focus on women. The monthly payout to women from underprivileged sections have become the focal point for both the parties. JMM's "Maiyya Samman Yojana" is pitted against BJP's "Gogo Didi Yojana", which the party has promised to implement if it comes to power.

In the 2024 parliamentary election, the BJP in Jharkhand won 8 of the 14 seats, making it the biggest winner in the State. Jharkhand Mukti Morcha won 3 seats, while the Congress won 2 seats. The AJSU Party won 1 seat. As per the seat-sharing formula for the NDA, BJP contested 13 seats, while AJSU contested from the Girdih seat. On the INDIA group, Congress contested on seven seats, JMM five seats, and [CPI(ML)L] and RJD on one seat each.

In 2019, the JMM-Congress-RJD alliance emerged triumphant in the Jharkhand Assembly elections by securing 47 out of 81 seats. The BJP managed to win 25 seats despite securing the highest vote share among parties. The JMM emerged as the single largest party with 30 seats.

The BJP on Monday announced the broad contours of a seat-sharing agreement with its allies as The party asserted the importance of contesting elections “together” under the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) banner. According to a report by The Indian Express, its ally All Jharkhand Students Union Party (AJSU) will get between 9-11 seats, whereas JDU is expected to get 2 seats. Additionally, the seat-sharing talks with LJP (Ram Vilas) will be held on Wednesday or Thursday after its chief Chirag Paswan comes back from abroad, informed BJP election in-charge of Jharkhand.