Election Results 2024: Exit polls had pointed to a close race with varying predictions.
JMM leader and Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren thanked the people of the state as the INDIA coalition - comprising the JMM, Congress, RJD and CPIM(L) Liberation - secured a decisive victory in the Assembly elections.
The BJP took an early lead after the counting of votes began at 8 am, but Chief Minister Hemant Soren's JMM, which expressed confidence it would form the government again, fought back slowly and steadily.
"We have passed the exam of democracy in Jharkhand; we will finalise our strategy after the election results," Mr Soren said at a press conference. "I express my gratitude to the people for this stupendous performance."
Chief Minister Hemant Soren, contesting from Barhait, won against the BJP's Gamliyel Hembrom. Other prominent INDIA bloc candidates also secured big wins. JMM's Ramsurya Munda in Khunti won against BJP's Neelkanth Singh Munda, Congress heavyweight Rameshwar Oraon won in Lohardaga, defeating AJSU Party's Niru Shanti Bhagat. Mr Soren's wife, Kalpana Soren, was leading against BJP's Muniya Devi while the final round of counting was on.
The BJP, which led the election campaign in Jharkhand on an "anti-infiltrator" plank, saw some prominent leaders trailing early on.
In Jagannathpur, BJP nominee Geeta Kora lost to Congress' Sonaram Sinku. Former Chief Minister Champai Soren, initially trailing in Seraikela, bounced back and won.
The RJD emerged as the surprise star of the elections, leading in four of the six seats it contested. This is a significant leap from 2019, when the party won just one seat, Chatra.
The majority mark in the Jharkhand Assembly is 41. The first phase of voting, on November 13, was in 43 constituencies, while the second phase saw 38 seats vote a week later.
Exit polls pointed to a narrow race with varying predictions. According to Matrize, the NDA was expected to win 42-47 seats, leaving the JMM-led alliance with 25-30 seats. Meanwhile, the TimesNow-JVC survey forecasted 40-44 seats for the NDA, with the INDIA bloc securing 30-40 seats.
The most definitive projections come from People's Pulse, which predicted a clear win for the NDA, with 42-48 seats compared to the JMM's 16-23 seats.
However, Axis My India and P Marq offered a contrasting view, giving the JMM-led INDIA bloc a commanding 49-59 and 37-47 seats respectively, while the NDA was projected to fall far behind.
The only agency that forecasted a hung assembly was Dainik Bhaskar, suggesting that both alliances would have to settle between 36-40 seats, just short of the majority mark of 41.
Despite exit polls having given the NDA the edge, the JMM was confident of forming government again under the leadership of Hemant Soren, with a two-thirds majority. The JMM had claimed that the BJP would even struggle to make a mark in 11 of the state's 24 districts.