Jharkhand Exit Poll Results 2019: Exit polls put Congress alliance ahead of BJP in Jharkhand

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. Out of the 81 assembly seats, elections had concluded in 65 constituencies in the previous four phases between 30 November and 16 December. Votes will be counted on 23 December to decide the fate of the candidates. The state saw a six way battle with two national parties, the ruling BJP and main opposition party Congress battling it out with the smaller regional parties like AJSU Party, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) and Rashtriya Janata Dal trying to play a major part in this assembly elections.

The JMM fought in 43 seats while its alliance partners Congress and the RJD fought in 31 and seven seats, respectively. Votes will be counted on 23 December.

Here are the live updates from the Jharkhand exit poll:

• 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
• India Today-My Axis Exit poll predicts 22-32 seats for BJP

• India Today-My Axis Exit poll predicts JMM-Congress to 38-50 seats

• India Today-My Axis Exit poll predicts AJSU to get 3-5 seats

• India Today-My Axis Exit poll predicts JVM to get 2-4 seats

• India Today-My Axis Exit poll predicts other parties in Jharkhand to get 4-7 seats

• Jharkhand is headed for a hung assembly, according to IANS-CVoter-ABP Exit Poll for the 2019 Assembly Election

• The BJP will find it difficult to form the government and its estranged ally, All Jharkhand Students Union chief Sudesh Mahto and former Chief Minister and Jharkhand Vikas Morcha chief Babulal Marandi can emerge as kingmakers in a hung assembly.

• While the JMM-Congress alliance will have less work to reach the majority mark, for the BJP, it is a tougher ask, according to the exit poll.

• Smaller parties like the AJSU are tipped to get 3-7 seats and Marandi's JVM likely to get 1-4 seats, according to the IANS-CVoter-ABP Exit Poll. In a hung assembly scenario, these parties' role will be key.

• According to the exit poll, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha-Congress-RJD alliance is slated to get 35 seats in the 81-member house while the Bharatiya Janata Party is expected to get 32. The range for the JMM-led alliance is expected to be somewhere between 31 to 39 seats while the BJP is expected to get 28 to 36 seats

• An estimated 70.83% of the total 40.05 lakh voters exercised their franchise till 5 pm when the polling ended

• The BJP claimed that it would get "Abki baar 65 paar" in the ongoing Jharkhand Assembly election

• Jharkhand Assembly polls 5th phase: 68.99% voter turnout recorded till 5 PM

• Jharkhand 5th phase elections: The 16 seats are spread across Sahebganj, Pakur, Dumka, Jamtara, Deoghar and Godda districts. The key candidates include state ministers Raj Paliwar, Louis Marandi and Randhir Singh

• Of the 5,389 polling stations in the state, 396 in Naxal-affected areas have been marked "critical" and 208 as "sensitive"

• BJP is seeking to return to power under the incumbent Chief Minister Raghubar Das.

• Hemant Soren is the chief ministerial candidate of Congress, JMM and RJD alliance. He is contesting the polls from Dumka and Barhet seats.