Jharkhand Assembly Election: The votes will be counted on November 23.
Forty-three of Jharkhand's 81 assembly seats are voting in the first phase of election. A handful of by-elections are also taking place, the most prominent of which is Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's test in Kerala's Wayanad.
Here are top 10 points on this big story:
- A turnout of 64.86 per cent was recorded till 5 pm in the 43 Jharkhand seats that voted today -- marginally above the 63.9 per cent recorded in 2019. "Polling was marked by a festive mood and enthusiastic participation across all districts, with large tribal population, including areas affected by Left Wing Extremism," the Election Commission said in a statement.
- In Rajasthan, Independent candidate Naresh Meena from the Deoli-Uniara constituency, was captured on video slapping a Sub-Divisional Magistrate. He alleged that the SDM had used his people to cast false votes.
- By-elections were held on 31 assembly seats across 10 states and the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat of Kerala. Four of the assembly seats are reserved for Scheduled Castes and six for Scheduled Tribes.
- Election was held for seven seats in Rajasthan, six seats in West Bengal, five in Assam, four in Bihar, three in Kerala, two seats in Madhya Pradesh and one each in Meghalaya, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh and Karnataka. In two seats of Sikkim, candidates of Sikkim Krantikari Morcha were declared unopposed winners on October 30.
- For this phase In Jharkhand, the ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha fielded 23 candidates, its allies Congress 17 and Lalu Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal five. The Opposition BJP has fielded 36 candidates, Janata Dal United two and Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party seven candidates.
- Key candidates included former Chief Minister Champai Soren and his son Babulal Soren, former Chief Minister Arjun Munda's wife Meera Munda, Madhu Koda's wife Geeta Koda and Raghuvar Das's daughter-in-law Purnima Sahu.
- The JMM-led coalition is hoping for a second term riding on its welfare schemes including Maiyan Samman Yojana. The NDA has promised a stop to infiltration and corruption by the Grand ALliance government, pointing to the arrest of Chief Minister Hemant Soren in a corruption case.
- The BJP's key promises include "driving out infiltrators", implementing Uniform Civil Code (UCC), Rs 2,100 per month to every woman and 5 lakh employment opportunities for the youth.
- The NDA had carried out its customary high-voltage star-studded campaign led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, BJP chief JP Nadda, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and his Assam counterpart Himanta Biswa Sarma held a number of rallies.
- In 2019, the JMM had won 30 seats and the BJP managed 25, down from 37 in 2014. The JMM-Congress-RJD alliance won a comfortable majority with 47 seats. The second phase of elections will be held on November 20 while the votes will be counted on November 23.
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