Jharkhand Election 2024: Polling in 43 seats across 15 districts tomorrow, Champai Soren among 683 candidates in fray

The BJP and the JMM are among the key parties in contention in the Jharkhand elections.

The stage is set for voting in the first of the two-phase Jharkhand Assembly elections on Wednesday, November 13, when voters in 43 assembly constituencies spread across 15 districts head to polls. At stake will be the fate of 683 candidates in the fray as voters elect their new legislators across each of these constituencies. The 43 constituencies include 17 general seats, 20 reserved for Scheduled Tribes, and six for Scheduled Castes.

Prominent names whose fate hangs balance include former Chief Minister Champai Soren, Health Minister Banna Gupta, Rajya Sabha MP Mahua Maji, Geeta Koda (wife of former Chief Minister Madhu Koda), and Purnima Das, the daughter-in-law of former Chief Minister Raghubar Das.

Campaigning for the first phase of elections halted on Monday. Among the constituencies going to polls on Wednesday, East Singhbhum district has the highest number of 6 seats up for grabs, followed by 5 seats each in Palamu, West Singhbhum, and Ranchi districts while Koderma and Ramgarh districts have 1 seat each.

Jharkhand Election 2024: Key constituencies and candidates in Phase 1

The notable constituencies in the first phase include Saraikela, Ranchi, Jamshedpur West, Jagannathpur, and Jamshedpur East. Former Chief Minister Champai Soren is contesting from the Saraikela seat. He joined the BJP in August ahead of the Jharkhand elections.

In Jamshedpur West, Health Minister and Congress candidate Banna Gupta faces JDU leader Saryu Roy, who defeated then-Chief Minister Raghubar Das in the 2019 elections. In Jamshedpur East, Congress candidate Ajoy Kumar will face BJP’s Purnima Das, the daughter-in-law of former Chief Minister Raghubar Das.

Meanwhile, Geeta Koda, wife of former Chief Minister Madhu Koda and a BJP candidate, is contesting against Congress’s Sona Ram Sinku in Jagannathpur. In the Ranchi seat, long-time BJP MLA CP Singh is up against Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader and current Rajya Sabha MP Mahua Maji.

Jharkhand Elections 2024: Key contests

The primary contest in Jharkhand is between the JMM-led Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance) and the BJP-led NDA. Of the 43 seats in the first phase, the JMM is contesting 23, the Congress 17, while Lalu Prasad Yadav’s RJD has fielded candidates in five seats, with two of these candidates running against alliance members.

Within the NDA, the BJP is contesting 36 seats, while Sudesh Mahto's AJSU has fielded candidates in 4 seats, Nitish Kumar's JD(U) in 2 and Chirag Paswan's LJP (R) in 1 constituency.

Jharkhand Election 2024: Polling Date and Time

Polling across the 43 constituencies will begin at 7 AM amid extensive arrangements at 15,344 polling stations set up across the state. Of these, 12,716 are located in rural areas and 2,628 in urban areas. The polling will conclude at 5 pm at most of these polling centres except for 950 stations where voting will end at 4 pm, though voters already in line at that time will still be allowed to cast their votes.

According to the Election Commission of India, a total of 1,152 polling stations will be managed entirely by women, and 24 stations will be overseen by handicapped personnel. Chief Electoral Officer K Ravi Kumar said that authorities have seized illegal materials and cash worth Rs 179.14 crore since the implementation of the Model Code of Conduct and 54 cases have been registered for alleged violations.

Jharkhand Election 2024: Key issues and campaign highlights

The Jharkhand Assembly election 2024 comes on the back of dramatic developments in the past five years that saw the arrest of Chief Minister Hemant Soren in a money-laundering case and his eventual release. Champai Soren was appointed as the interim chief minister and later asked to step down following Hemant’s release on bail. He quit the JMM and joined the BJP claiming he was insulted.

Tribals, who comprise a significant population in the state, have been at the centre of the BJP’s poll campaign. The party has raised the issue of infiltration and claimed that the Soren government oversaw a demographic change in the state at the cost of tribals’ rights. On Monday, Home Minister Amit Shah also promised a law to prevent transfer of land rights in case an immigrant marries a tribal girl. The strategy became crucial after the Opposition’s “anti-tribal” narrative restricted the BJP to 5 of the nine Lok Sabha seats in the general elections earlier this year.

In contrast, Chief Minister Hemant Soren’s campaign focussed on tribal rights and welfare, while the INDIA bloc emphasized alleged harassment faced by the tribal communities at the hands of the BJP. The BJP also raised the issue of corruption and scams and reminded voters of the huge piles of cash recovered from the premises of Congress leaders.

Jharkhand Elections 2024 Phase 1: List of 43 constituencies headed to polls

1. Kodarma
2. Barkatha
3. Barhi
4. Barkagaon
5. Hazaribagh
6. Simaria (SC)
7. Chatra (SC)
8. Baharagora
9. Ghatsila (ST)
10. Potka (ST)
11. Jugsalai (SC)
12. Jamshedpur East
13. Jamshedpur West
14. Ichagarh
15. Seraikella (ST)
16. Chaibasa (ST)
17. Majhgaon (ST)
18. Jagannathpur (ST)
19. Manoharpur (ST)
20. Chakradharpur (ST)
21. Kharsawan (ST)
22. Tamar (ST)
23. Torpa (ST)
24. Khunti (ST)
25. Ranchi
26. Hatia
27. Kanke (SC)
28. Mandar (ST)
29. Sisai (ST)
30. Gumla (ST)
31. Bishunpur (ST)
32. Simdega (ST)
33. Kolebira (ST)
34. Lohardaga (ST)
35. Manika (ST)
36. Latehar (SC)
37. Panki
38. Daltonganj
39. Bishrampur
40. Chhatarpur (SC)
41. Hussainabad
42. Garhwa
43. Bhawanathpur

Jharkhand Elections 2024: What happened in 2019?

In the 2019 elections, the JMM won 30 of the 81 Assembly seats in the state and formed a government in alliance with the Congress and the RJD. The BJP, on the other hand, secured 25 seats, down from 37 in 2014. The JMM-Congress-RJD alliance had a majority with 47 seats.

The current strength of the Jharkhand assembly stands at 74 members, with the ruling JMM-led alliance holding 44 seats – 26 from the JMM, 17 from Congress, and one from the RJD.