The result of the 18th Lok Sabha elections was declared late in the evening on June 4, giving a clear mandate to the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) which is all set to form the government at the centre for the third consecutive time.
Despite that the NDA has a comfortable majority in the 543-member lower house of parliament, its performance has been below expectations in a few states, including Jharkhand, where the BJP-led coalition has managed to win a total of 9 out of 14 seats in the state.
Let’s delve into the details of how the election results have unfolded in the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM)-led coalition ruled state, where the NDA has suffered a loss of as many as 3 seats compared to what it secured in the general elections of 2019.
Seats won by NDA
The BJP led NDA in the state has clinched victories on as many as eight seats of the state, the only other seat won by the alliance other than the BJP is the Giridih Lok Sabha seat which has been won by the All Jharkhand Student Union (AJSU) party.
Here, the AJSU has fielded Chandra Prakash Chaudhary, who got around 4.39 lakh votes compared to his nearest opponent Mathura Prasad Mahto who only managed to attract 3.7 lakh voters in his favour.
Other than the Giridih Lok Sabha seat, all the other remaining seats of the North Chhotanagpur division have also won by the NDA’s candidates. In Kodarma, the BJP candidate and Union Minister for state for Education Annuparna Devi has defeated its opponent Vinod Singh of CPI (ML) Liberation with a massive margin of over 3.7 Lakh votes.
In Dhanbad where the BJP had fielded Dhallu Mahto against the Indian National Congress (INC) candidate, Anupama Singh, the former has registered a similar victory by defeating the Congress contestant by a margin of over 3.3 lakh votes.
INC has also suffered a defeat in Hazaribagh seat of the North Chhotanagpur division here INC candidate Jay Prakash Bhai Patel has been defeated by BJP’s Manish jaiswal in a direct contest with over 2.7 lakh votes.
BJP Sweeps Palamu Division
Meanwhile, the BJP has won both seats of the Palamu division of the state. Here, the BJP candidate, Vishnu Dayal Ram, has secured over 7.7 lakh votes, defeating the Rashtiya Janata Dal (RJD) candidate, Mamta Bhuiyan, with a margin of around 2.8 lakh votes.
In Chatra, another seat of the Palamu Division, INC candidate, K N Tripathi has suffered a defeat from the BJP candidate Kalicharan Singh. Tripathi was beaten by a margin of over 2.2 lakh votes.
Other than these, the BJP candidates have also emerged victorious from Jamshedpur, Ranchi and the high-profile seat of Godda, where Nishikant Dubey of BJP has registered an empathic win for the fourth consecutive time.
Dubey has defeated INC candidate Pradeep Yadav with a difference of over 1 lakh votes, the BJP stalwart has been winning the Godda seats since 2009.
JMM won three seats
Meanwhile, the JMM has also won three seats in the state. The party led by Chief Minister Champai Soren and Kalpana Soren in absence of former Chief Minister, Hemant Soren who is currently lodging in jail in connection with a money laundering case linked to alleged land grabbing has emerged victorious on Rajmahal, Dumka and the West Singhbhum constituencies.
In Dumka, a seat that has become a matter for prestige for the ruling JMM, the party has fielded Nalin Soren against BJP candidate Sita Murmu (Sita Soren). Soren has get past Murmu in a tightly fought contest by around 22k votes.
In Singhbhum JMM candidate Joba Manjhi has comfortably defeated BJP candidate Geeta Koda, former Member of Parliament and wife of former Chief Minister Madhu Koda. Geeta Koda had recently switched side by joining the BJP from INC, she has been defeated by Manjhi with an impressive margin of over 1.6 lakh votes.
Meanwhile, JMM candidate Vijay Hansda has also registered a victory from the Rajmahal Lok Sabha seat. Hansda has been an elected member of the lower house of the parliament since 2014, he has secured his third consecutive term from the Rajmahal seat by beating BJP candidate Tala Marandi with over 1.78 lakh votes.
Congress won Lohardaga and Khunti constituencies
INC has secured victory on two seats of the state, the party candidates have won from the Lohardaga and Khunti constituencies. In Khunti, Congress candidate, Kalicharan Munda has defeated Union Minister, Arjun Munda with a margin of around 1.50 lakh votes. Whereas in Lohardaga, BJP candidate, Samir Oraon has also lost to INC candidate Sukhdev Bhagta, who has registered a win over the latter with a margin of 1.39 lakh votes.
It is noteworthy that the Lok Sabha elections result of the state marks its significance, as the tribally dominated state is all set to hold the state assembly elections in a few months’ time.
