Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader and incumbent Chief Minister Hemant Soren crafted a successful campaign around tribal identity and sympathy for having been incarcerated in a corruption case to ensure a comfortable second term for the INDIA bloc in the tribal State.

INDIA bloc — including JMM Congress, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and CPI(ML) Liberation — either won or was leading in 56 Assembly constituencies, which is 15 seats more than the majority mark to form the government. JMM won 34 seats, Congress won 15 and was leading on one more, RJD clinched 4 and CPI (ML) Liberation 2 seats.

The BJP-led NDA was either leading or had won 23 seats. The BJP won 20 seats and was leading on one more, AJSU Party (AJSUP) and Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) managed to win one each. However, the final results were still to be out as counting was going on.

Hemant Soren, who retained Barhait seat with a victory margin of 39,791 votes against BJP’s Gamliyel Hembrom, expressed gratitude to people for stupendous performance and said Jharkhand is set to script ‘Abua Raj, Abua Sarkar’ (own State, own government).

“We have passed the exam of democracy in Jharkhand; we will finalise our strategy after the election results,” Soren told reporters at a press conference in Ranchi.

His wife Kalpana Soren, who had taken the party’s mantle since he was jailed by the Enforcement Directorate in January this year, emerged victorious from Gandey seat with a margin of 13,056 votes, defeating her BJP rival.

Hemant Soren’s brother Basant Soren won the Dumka assembly seat by 14,588 votes.

The RJD cornered four of the six seats it contested.

Bypolls

Results were declared for bypolls to 48 Assembly and two Lok Sabha constituencies in 15 States including Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, etc.

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra won landmark victory from Wayanad, vacated by her brother Rahul Gandhi, by over 4 lakh votes in the bypoll to make a maiden entry into the Lok Sabha.

The BJP wrested the Nanded Lok Sabha seat in Maharashtra from Congress in the bypoll necessitated due to the death of Congress MP Vasantrao Chavan.

The ruling parties across States seem to have fared better in their respective States in bypolls. The BJP held sway in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan. After a setback during the Lok Sabha elections held a few months ago, the BJP under Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath registered an emphatic victory in the Uttar Pradesh by-elections.

Of the nine seats, it won four seats and was leading on two others; while its ally RLD clinched lone seat in western UP. The rival Samajwadi Party managed to corner just two seats.

The ruling NDA won the bypolls to four Assembly segments in Bihar and won all the five seats in Assam. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) swept all the six seats in the bypolls, despite the gruesome RG Kar doctor rape-murder case which had fanned anger against Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s ruling dispensation.

The Congress won all the three seats in the Karnataka. AAP walked away with three out of four seats in the Punjab.

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