Election Commission begins counting of votes for Maharashtra, Jharkhand polls: 10 points
The Election Commission will announce the results of the Maharashtra and Jharkhand elections today. The counting of votes is underway.
In Maharashtra, the ruling Mahayuti alliance – comprising BJP, Shiv Sena, and NCP – took on the formidable Congress-Shiv Sena (UBT)-NCP (SCP) coalition. In Jharkhand, the JMM-Congress alliance contested an intense electoral battle against the BJP and its allies.
Most of the exit polls have predicted the victory of the BJP-led alliances in both states; some pollsters, however, gave the JMM-Congress alliance and Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) an edge.
Here are 10 points on Jharkhand and Maharashtra assembly elections:
In Maharashtra, the single-phase election took place on November 20. The final voter turnout was 66.05 per cent, up from 61.1 per cent in 2019. The voter turnout in the Kolhapur district was 76.63 per cent. Gadchiroli polled 75.26 per cent votes. At 52.07 per cent, the Mumbai city logged the lowest voter turnout. Mumbai suburban recorded 55.95 per cent polling.
288 centres have been set up for the counting of votes, including one for the Nanded Lok Sabha by-poll. 288 counting observers will oversee each assembly constituency, with two observers assigned to monitor counting in the Nanded Lok Sabha by-poll.
The BJP contested 149 assembly seats in Maharashtra, Shiv Sena 81 seats, and the Ajit Pawar-led NCP fielded candidates in 59 constituencies. In the opposition’s MVA camp, the Congress fielded 101 candidates, Shiv Sena (UBT) 95, and NCP (SCP) 86 candidates. Unaligned parties like the Bahujan Samaj Party and All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) contested 237 and 17 seats respectively.
The Jharkhand assembly election was held in two phases – November 13 and 20. The first phase covered 43 constituencies out of the state’s 81 seats; the second phase saw voting in 38 seats. The voter turnout was 67.74 per cent, the highest since the formation of the state in 2000.
1,211 candidates contested the elections, including JMM leader Hemant Soren and his wife Kalpana Soren. BJP leader Babulal Marandi and assembly speaker Rabindra Nath Mahato are also in the fray. Other prominent leaders included Deepika Pandey Singh of the Congress from Mahagama, Sita Soren (sister-in-law of CM Hemant Soren) from Jamtara, AJSU Party chief Sudesh Mahto from Silli, and former chief minister Champai Soren from Seraikela.
The BJP-led alliance contested the Jharkhand election on the planks of corruption and alleged infiltration. CM Hemant Soren’s party and his ally, the Congress, attempted to woo voters with the promise of welfare schemes.
JMM also alleged that the BJP-led central government had unleashed the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation on opposition leaders, including Hemant Soren.
Top leaders of NDA and the INDIA bloc, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, home minister Amit Shah and Congress stalwart Rahul Gandhi, campaigned in both states. BJP used slogans like “ek rahenge toh safe range” (if we remain united, we will be safe). Gandhi mocked the slogan, saying it translated into the “unity” between Modi, Shah and billionaires.
The NDA has fielded candidates in 68 seats in Jharkhand, while allies AJSU fielded 10. In the INDIA bloc, JMM fielded candidates in 43 seats, Congress in 30, RJD in 6, and CPI(ML) in 4.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Priyanka Chaturvedi said on Friday that the MVA coalition will get a majority in the Maharashtra assembly. “People of Maharashtra are going to free them (Mahayuti) for the next 25 years. The government of loot, corruption, and Adani is going to end. We will get the majority,” she told ANI.
Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said the BJP-led alliances will form governments in Jharkhand and Maharashtra. “Mahayuti will form governments in Maharashtra and in Jharkhand. The BJP will emerge victorious,” he said.