Curtains will come down on campaigning for the 43 Assembly seats of Jharkhand going to the polls in the first phase on November 13. The second phase of voting for the remaining 38 seats will be held on November 20. Votes will be counted on November 23.
Both the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the the INDIA bloc are pulling out all the stops to secure victory in the state.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wooED the tribal population, which makes up 26 per cent of the 2.6 crore voters across the state’s 24 districts. On the last day of campaigning, Union Home Minister Amit Shah is addressing three rallies in the poll-bound state.
Shah's first rally is in the Saraikela constituency, seen to be the stronghold of former Chief Minister Champai Soren, who joined the BJP from the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) recently and will be the BJP’s candidate from the seat. Later, Shah will proceed to Simdega Assembly constituency where he will address a public gathering before finishing the day’s campaign in the Tamar Assembly seat with a meeting in support of JD(U) candidate Gopal Krishna Patar.
In the 2019 Assembly Elections,Jharkhand Mukti Morcha(JMM) emerged as the largest party with 30 seats, while the BJP bagged 25 seats, and the Congress won 16 seats. Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (JVM) got three seats, while All Jharkhand Students Union won 2 seats.
JMM formed government with the support of Congress and RJD. The alliance – part of INDIA bloc – is contesting the 2024 assembly election again with Hemant Soren-led JMM set to contest 43 seats. The Congress has fielded candidates from 30 constituencies. The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) is contesting six seats while the Left parties have fielded candidates on three seats.
On November 10, Prime Minister Narendra Modi alleged that the Congress and its allies want to divide the OBC community by pitting sub-castes against each other for political gains. Addressing an election rally in Jharkhand's Bokaro, Modi used the slogan: "Ek rahenge toh safe rahenge". The slogan, which means "we will be safe if we are united", appealed to the backward castes to stay united.
Later in the day, Modi hosted a 3-km-long roadshow in Ranchi, covering four constituencies and expected to draw two lakh attendees.
As many 2.6 crore voters are eligible to cast their votes in the two-phase polling. This include 1.31 crore male voters, 1.29 crore female voters, 11.84 lakh first-time voters, and 66.84 lakh young voters.
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