Jharkhand Election Results Highlights: Union Minister Arjun Munda trailing in Khunti

Beginning at 8 am, ballots for Jharkhand's 14 Lok Sabha seats will be counted. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is seeking to win the majority of the state's votes.

The BJP-led NDA is predicted to rule Jharkhand with nine to twelve seats, while the INDIA alliance is anticipated to gain two to five seats, according to a News18 Mega Exit Poll.

Jharkhand cast four rounds of votes in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections to choose 14 state representatives. The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), the Indian National Congress (INC), and the All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) Party each won one seat in the 2019 elections, but the BJP emerged as the overwhelming winner with 11 seats.

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA), led by the BJP, proved its power in the 2014 elections as well, taking home 12 of the state's 14 seats. The JMM made a claim for the final two seats.

The 2019 elections witnessed a voter turnout of 69.1 per cent in Jharkhand. The BJP's vote share stood at an impressive 51.6 per cent, followed by the Congress at 15.8 per cent and the JMM at 11.7 per cent.

Here are the updates of Jharkhand Lok Sabha Elections 2024:

3:20 PM: BJP's Sanjay Seth is ahead of INC contender by almost a million votes.

Sanjay Seth, the BJP candidate, is ahead of INC competitor Yashashwini Sahay by 107230 votes. Yashashwini Sahay is leading independent candidate Devendranath Mato.

2:50 PM: JMM's Kalpana Soren leads in the Gandey Assembly bypoll

JMM's Kalpana Soren, wife of former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren, leads in the Gandey Assembly bypoll by 1,148 votes against her nearest BJP rival Dileep Kumar Verma.

2 PM: Leading in Koderma is Union Minister Annapurna Devi

Election authorities stated that Union Minister Annapurna Devi was leading CPI (ML) Liberation's Vinod Kumar Singh by 44,478 votes in the Koderma Lok Sabha constituency. Devi had earlier beaten the then-JVM-P chairman and former chief minister Babulal Marandi, who is currently the state BJP president, by a huge majority of 4.55 lakh votes. Devi joined the BJP prior to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and competed for the Koderma seat.

1 PM: In Khunti, Congress and JMM employees celebrate

Congress and JMM activists in Khunti are ecstatic due to official ECI trends showing their candidate, Kali Charan Munda, winning by a margin of 55,341 votes. Arjun Munda, the sitting MP, is far behind.

11:50 AM: Union Minister and sitting MP Arjun Munda trailing in J'Khand's Khunti

Union Tribal Affairs and Agriculture Minister Arjun Munda is trailing in Jharkhand's prestigious Khunti (ST) seat by about 21,000 votes over his nearest Congress rival Kalicharan Munda, as per Election Commission of India.

Munda is considered one of the tallest tribal faces not only in Jharkhand but also in neighbouring Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Bihar.

11:05 AM: The exit polls were misleading, says JMM MP Mahua Maji 

JMM MP Mahua Maji says, "The exit polls were misleading... We have full faith that we will form government in the centre. In UP, trends on more than half of the seats were in favour of INDIA alliance..."

10:30 AM: BJP leads in 7 seats

In Jharkhand, the BJP is in the lead in seven seats: Dumka, Godda, Jamshedpur, Lohardaga, Palamu, Hazaribagh, and Koderma. In Giridih, its affiliate AJSU is in the lead. JMM is in the lead starting at Rajmahal, Singhbhum.9:30 AM: BJP leaders lead in Jamshedpur and Palamu

Election results for Jharkhand 2024: BJP leaders lead in Jamshedpur and Palamu, according to early tallies. The BJP is also leading in two other seats: Bidyut Baran Mahato of the saffron party is leading in Jamshedpur by a margin of 7074 votes, while VD Ram is leading in Palamu by a margin of 5848 votes, according to early tallies.

8:50 AM: Early trends show INDIA bloc leading in 2 out of 14 seats, counting underway

Early trends based on postal ballots suggest INDIA bloc is leading in 2 seats in Jharkhand, NDA leading in 1.

8:35 AM: Women cast more ballots than males in each of the seven Jharkhand seats that were up for voting till May 20

Women cast more ballots than males in each of the seven Jharkhand seats that were up for voting till May 20. 3.84% of men and women cast ballots in Jharkhand's first phase of voting, which took place on May 13. It reached 6.29% on May 20.

In terms of the 16 Assembly segments, Kodarma had the largest disparity, which was also evident in the Lok Sabha elections of 2019. This was true for the constituencies of Chatra and Hazaribagh as well. With a turnout gap between men and women of as much as 15.85% (70% to 54.15%), Kodarma stood out in particular.

8:05 AM: Counting of votes begins for 14 Lok Sabha seats, one assembly bypoll in Jharkhand

Counting of votes begins for 14 Lok Sabha seats, one assembly bypoll in Jharkhand: official

8:00 AM: Jharkhand Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Polling took place in last 4 phases

Jharkhand went to polls in last four phases on May 13, May 20, May 25 and June 1 of the general elections 2024. The results will be declared today.

7:30 AM: Jharkhand Election Results 2024: How did 2019 go for the main political parties?

With a 56% vote share, the NDA secured 12 of the 14 seats in the Lok Sabha elections, held in May 2019. Included in this was the 4.4% of votes that its affiliate, the All Jharkhand Students' Union (AJSU), received to get one seat. JMM and Congress each won one seat.

7:00 AM: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is seeking to win a majority of the state's 14 Lok Sabha seats

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is seeking to win a majority of the state's 14 Lok Sabha seats. The vote counting process is scheduled to start at 8 am. But in the wake of former Chief Minister Hemant Soren's imprisonment and their supremacy in the Assembly elections, the INDIA alliance—which includes the Congress and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM)—is hoping to improve.