Ranchi, Nov 23 (UNI) JMM-led ruling I.N.D.I.A Bloc was leading in more than half of the 81 seats in Jharkhand, over four hours into counting for the state Assembly polls on Saturday.
With trends available for all the seats, I.N.D.I.A bloc candidates were occupying the pole position in 51 constituencies around noon, according to the Election Commission data.
The main opposition BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidates were in the lead in only 28 seats.
The Jharkhand Loktantrik Krantikari Morcha, fighting its maiden election, and an independent contestant were leading in one seat each.
Putting up a strong performance, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha was in the lead in 29 of the 41 seats it contested. Its alliance partners Congress, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation are ahead in 15, five and two seats respectively.
For the NDA, the BJP nominees nosed ahead of their rivals in 26 seats, while the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) and Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU Party) were in the lead in one constituency each.
In Barhait, Chief Minister Hemant Soren (JMM) has established a comfortable lead of around 13,000 votes, but his wife and party candidate from Gandey Kalpana Soren was trailing BJP’s Muniya Devi.
Another JMM star candidate Hemant Soren’s brother Basant Soren was running second to BJP nominee Sunil Soren in Dumka, after completion of seven of the 21 rounds of counting.
Among other prominent JMM nominees, Assembly Speaker Ravindra Nath Mahto was leading from Nala.
Veteran leader Louis Marandi, who jumped ship to JMM after severing his long association with the BJP just before the polls, has established a slender lead of over 300 votes against the challenger from her former party Suresh Murmu in Jama. Around one-fourth of the polled votes have been counted in the constituency.
Overcoming initial hiccups, former state Chief Minister Champai Soren, who contested as a BJP nominee from Seraikella, was leading by over 35,000 votes.
Champai, one of the founders of the JMM, had crossed over to the BJP after he was replaced as chief Minister by Hemant Soren in July when the latter came out of jail on bail.
Champai had served as Jharkhand chief minister for six months after Hemant was arrested by the ED for alleged corruption in January.
In Dhanwar, Jharkhand BJP unit president and former Chief Minister Babulal Marandi was leading with about one-fourth of the polled votes already counted.
However, another state BJP stalwart and Leader of the Opposition in Jharkhand Assembly Amar Kumar Bauri was presently in the third position in Chandankiyari. Uma Kant Rajak of JMM was in the lead, with Arjun Rajwar of Jharkhand Loktantrik Krantikari Morcha in second place.
Other notable BJP candidates who have fallen behind are JMM chief Shibu Soren’s daughter-in-law Sita Soren in Jamtara and Lobin Hembram in Borrio.
In another bad news for NDA, AJSU-P chief and former Deputy Chief Minister Sudesh Mahto was trailing in Silli to his JMM rival after six rounds of counting. A dozen more rounds are left to be counted.
The elections to the Jharkhand Assembly were held in two phases, with 43 constituencies going to the hustings on November 13, and the remaining 38 on November 20.
The state recorded a high overall voter turnout of 67.74 percent this time, the highest since its formation 24 years back.
