10 Major Updates On Jharkhand Elections As First Phase Polling Starts Today

Jharkhand Assembly Election: Phase 1 Kicks Off The first phase of the 2024 Jharkhand assembly election has begun today with voting in 43 constituencies across 15 districts. Voting will go from 7 AM to 5 PM. The second phase will take place on November 20 and will cover the remaining 38 constituencies. Votes will be counted on November 23 since the term of the current assembly is ending on January 5, 2025.

Election Campaigns: Priority Issues and Parties

A remarkable aspect of election campaigns in Jharkhand has been the severe competition that the ruling party, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), has been facing from opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on issues like tribal rights, immigration, and graft.

1.BJP’s Alliance: BJP has contestants on 68 seats, its allies, the All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) on 10 seats, Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) on 2 seats, and Chirag Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) on 1 seat.

2. INDIA Bloc: The JMM will contest on 41 seats, Congress 30, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) 6, and Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) 4 seats.

Voter Turnout and Election Setup

3. Voter Demographics: 1.37 crore eligible voters would be able to vote in the first round of polling, which has a total of 2.60 crore voters in Jharkhand.

4. Candidates Contesting : 683 candidates are contesting on the 81 assembly seats, of whom 609 are males, 73 females and one third-gender candidates.

5. Polling Stations: The first phase has 15,344 polling stations, 12,716 in the rural and 2,628 in the urban areas. Women will be running most of the booths, and 24 will be run by people with disabilities.

Constituency Information

6. Reserved Seats: Of the 43 constituencies in the first phase, 17 are reserved for the general category, 20 for Scheduled Tribes, and 6 for Scheduled Castes.

Election History of Constituencies

2019 Election Result:  JMM secured 30 seats in the 2019 assembly election, whereas the BJP could only win 25 seats. This had come down significantly from the 37 seats won by them in 2014. The JMM-Congress-RJD alliance secured a comfortable majority with 47 seats.

Enforcement and Election Preparations

7. Election Seizures: Since the enforcement of Model Code of Conduct, the election authorities seized illegal material and cash amounting to ₹ 208.78 crore and registered 58 cases.

8. Poll Arrangements : The Ranchi Assembly returning officer reportedly confirmed all necessary poll arrangements in which there would be availability of drinking water at all polling stations, toilets, and also the web-casting facilities.

Party Promises

9. Congress Manifesto: So, the Congress Party promised 250 units of free electricity, a caste-based census and filling up of all vacant government positions within one year after the formation of the new government. It will also scrap the erstwhile BJP Government’s Land Bank Policy and enact the Chota Nagpur Tenancy Act and the Santhal Parganas Act if voted to power.

10. JMM’s Manifesto: The CM Hemant Soren-led JMM has vowed college for schools and nursing colleges, a percent increase in the Minimum Wages of MNREGA working people, and 33% jobs in the State government for women.

11. BJP’s Commitment: The BJP has inducted the removal of “infiltrators” from tribal areas and promised to introduce a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in Jharkhand without affecting tribals. This party also commits to produce five lakh jobs and providing homes for one and all.

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