The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) had indirectly projected Hemant Soren, from the powerful Soren family from the tribal-dominated region of Santhal Pargana, as its chief ministerial candidate. The party had formed an alliance with the Congress and the RJ(D). He is contesting from Barhait and Dumka legislative seats; the latter comes under the Dumka parliamentary constituency. Santhal Pargana, with its 16 assembly seats, has been a JMM stronghold since the formation of Jharkhand in the 2000s.
But, in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, JMM was relegated to a corner in the Modi wave. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, JMM patriarch Shibu Soren lost from Dumka parliament seat. In the 2014 assembly polls, BJP's Lois Marandi had beaten Hemant in the Dumka seat; however, the latter won from Barhait. The electoral fortunes of the Soren family are shrinking. Will the Dumka result be an indication of the way the wind is blowing?
Counting started at 7am in the morning, with initial trends showing the Congress and the BJP neck-to-neck. In the present assembly, the BJP has 43 members, JMM 19, Congress eight, AJSU Party three, JVM(P) two, CPI(ML) Liberation one, MCC one and others two. Two MLAs Geeta Koda (Independent) and AJSU Party's Chandra Prakash Choudhary resigned after being elected to Lok Sabha. The five-phase election was held between November 30 and December 20. Most exit polls telecast by news channels soon after voting ended for the fifth and final phase of the Jharkhand elections on Friday indicated a hung assembly.
Among the prominent candidates are Chief Minister Raghubar Das from Jamshedpur East, the chief ministerial candidate of the opposition JMM, Congress, RJD alliance Hemant Soren from Dumka and Barhait, and former chief minister Babulal Marandi, also the president of Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik), from Dhanwar.
In the present assembly, the BJP has 43 members, JMM 19, Congress eight, AJSU Party three, JVM(P) two, CPI(ML) Liberation one, MCC one and others two. Two MLAs Geeta Koda (Independent) and AJSU Party's Chandra Prakash Choudhary resigned after being elected to Lok Sabha.
The ABP/CVoters has given 35 seats to the opposition alliance of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), the Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). It has given 32 seats to the ruling BJP, five to the AJSU Party and three to the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) and six to others.
Aaj Tak has given the BJP between 22 and 32 seats, and the JMM-led opppsition between 38 and 50 seats. It has predicted two to four seats for the JVM-P, three to five for the AJSU Party and four to seven for others.
Jharkhand/Bihar Hindi news channel, News-XI, has given the BJP between 30 and 35 seats. It has given the JMM between 17 and 22 seats, the Congress between nine and 12, the AJSU Party between eight and 12 seats, and the JVM-P between four and six seats. Others have been given between eight and 10 seats by the channel.