Congress-JMM-RJD alliance set to form government in Jharkhand, setback for BJP

RANCHI: The opposition alliance of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, Congress and the RJD is set to form the next government in Jharkhand displacing the BJP which ruled the state for the last 5 years. As per Election Commission trends, Congress-JMM-RJD alliance wins 39 seats and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wins 18 seats.

All India Congress Committee in-charge for Jharkhand, RPN Singh said, "We will form the government as we fought the elections for the people of the state by raising issues that affect their lives and livelihoods. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah tried to divert the attention of the people away from fundamental issues but the people did not get swayed."

Reiterating that Hemant Soren of the JMM will be the chief minister as declared earlier, Singh said the Jharkhand results are a defeat of BJP's "arrogance and diversionary tactics".

The Congress said that the alliance will form the government with Hemant Soren as chief minister.

Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader Hemant Soren emerged as the winner from both the Dumka and Barhait constituencies.

Soren won by a margin of 13,188 votes from the Dumka seat and from the Barhait assembly constituency by a margin of 25,740 votes.

The chief minister candidate from the Congress-JMM-RJD alliance has beaten BJP's Simon Malto from the Barhait seat while on the Dumka seat he once again defeated BJP's incumbent candidate Lois Marandi.

The tri-party alliance is all set to form government in the state with it winning 39, and leading on another 8 seats.

Earlier anticipating a thumping win, Soren had thanked the voters for the mandate given to the alliance and said that this win marks a milestone in the state's history.

"The trends of the election results suggest that the voters of Jharkhand have given a clear mandate for which I am very thankful to the voters," said Soren at a press conference here.

"I am thankful to the people of Jharkhand for the mandate. Today's victory is full of happiness for many but for me, it is also the day to take a vow to fulfil the expectations of the public," added Soren.

While RJD won one seat, Congress won 12 and JMM 26 seats. Both Congress and JMM are also leading on another 4 seats each as per the latest trends of the Election Commission.

Soren's JMM is emerging as the single largest party in the state as it won 26 and is leading on 4 others.

The BJP, on the other hand, won 18 seats and is leading on 7 others, according to the latest trends by the Election Commission.