Jharkhand will go to polls next month after the Election Commission of India announced the schedule today. The voting on 81 seats will take place in two phases - November 13 and November 20 - and votes will be counted three days later on November 23.
The poll body also announced the schedule for elections in Maharashtra - a state with 288 assembly seats - with voting on November 20 and counting on November 23.
The elections in two states are being held a month after the poll battle in Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir. The BJP secured a third consecutive term in Haryana and the Congress-National Conference alliance formed a government in Jammu and Kashmir in the first set of elections held since 2014 and after the removal of Article 370 in 2019.
Chief Election Commissioner, Rajiv Kumar today, said we are setting a gold standard with every election, referring to the 'free and fair elections' in Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir.
The 2019 elections saw a close contest between the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and the BJP, with the former winning 30 and the latter securing 25 seats. The Congress emerged as the third-largest party with 16 seats.
The JVM (Jharkhand Vikas Morcha) got 3 seats, and the AJSU (All Jharkhand Students Union) won 2 seats. Two independent candidates won in the 2019 elections along with three other parties winning one seat each.
The political battle in Jharkhand comes after several political developments took place in the state. This year, JMM's Hemant Soren was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a land fraud case. He resigned before the arrest, appointing Champai Soren as the Chief Minister.
Hemant Soren walked out of jail in July and was re-appointed as the Chief Minister. This led to a tussle with his close aide, Champai Soren left the party after accusing JMM of "insulting" him. He later joined the BJP.
Champai Soren is up against the JMM and asserted that he never compromised with his values and people will give a befitting reply to the JMM-led coalition in the assembly polls.
The JMM heads an alliance that includes the Congress, Rashtriya Janata Dal, and a Left party.
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