Jharkhand Election Results: Congress and BJP Neck-and-Neck as Majority Hangs in the Balance

The vote counting for the Maharashtra and Jharkhand Assembly elections began at 8 AM on Saturday, November 23. Maharashtra held a single-phase election across all 288 seats, while Jharkhand, with 81 seats, had a two-phase voting process. Both state results are being announced simultaneously. Exit polls before the results suggest that the NDA is likely to form the government in both states, although some exit polls also predict a hung assembly in Jharkhand and the possibility of the Mahavikas Aghadi forming the government in Maharashtra. In 2019, Maharashtra had 288 seats, and a majority required 145 seats. The BJP won 105 seats, Shiv Sena secured 56, NCP got 54, and Congress won 44. Initially, the Shiv Sena and BJP contested together, while NCP and Congress formed an alliance. The Shiv Sena-BJP alliance had a majority, but they split over the Chief Minister’s post. Subsequently, Uddhav Thackeray formed a government with Congress and NCP's support. This government lasted for 2.5 years before Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde led a rebellion with 40 MLAs and joined the BJP to form a new government. NCP later also split, with Ajit Pawar’s faction joining the Shinde-BJP government. In Jharkhand, voting took place on November 30, 2019, and the results were announced on December 20. The state has 81 seats, with a majority requiring 42 seats. In the previous election, the Congress-JMM alliance won, with JMM securing 30 seats, BJP winning 25, and Congress getting 16. In Jharkhand, the NDA alliance consists of BJP (68), AJSU (10), JDU (2), and LJP (1), while the INDIA alliance includes JMM (43), Congress (30), RJD (6), and Left parties (3). In Maharashtra, the Mahayuti alliance includes BJP (149 seats), Shiv Sena (81 seats), and NCP under Ajit Pawar's leadership (59 seats). The opposition MVA alliance consists of Congress (101 seats), Shiv Sena (Uddhav faction) (95 seats), and NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) (86 seats). Smaller parties like Raj Thackeray’s MNS, BSP, SP, and AIMIM are also contesting. BSP has fielded 237 candidates, and AIMIM has 17 candidates in the 288-seat election.