New Delhi: The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha-Congress-Rashtriya Janata Dal alliance in Jharkhand is tipped to form the government in the state this time with most exit polls giving it 38 to 50 seats in the 81-member House in the just concluded polls. Votes will be counted on December 23.
According to the exit polls, the Raghubar Das-led Bharatiya Janata Party government in Jharkhand is likely to fall well short of the majority mark and it would be close fight to the finish.
With the voting to the last of five phases taking place on Friday, the exit polls came out with their findings on the elections.
The most keenly watched result was of India Today-Axis exit poll which had got the result of the Haryana assembly elections quite right as it predicted that the Manohar Lal Khattar-led BJP government would fall short of a majority there – and it had indeed turned out that way.
This time for the Jharkhand polls, the India Today-Axis exit poll has predicted that BJP would get 22 to 32 seats with the JMM-Congress-RJD alliance doing much better and securing between 38 and 50 seats. As for the other parties, it has given Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (JVM) two to four seats, All Jharkhand Students Union three to five seats and others four to seven seats.
Also read: As Jharkhand Polls Come to an End, All Eyes on December 23
Overall, the exit polls had it that the JMM-led alliance would get 37% votes while BJP would get around 34%.
A total of 40.04 lakh people exercised their franchise in the just concluded polls with the overall voting percentage being around 70.83%. The election was spaced out across five phases and voting took place between November 30 and December 20.
Following the exit polls, the AJSU said it was keeping its options open on allying with BJP for the future. The party had distanced itself from the ruling party in the run up to the elections. In the 2014 polls, the party had won five seats and it had allied with BJP and participated in the government.
However, it remains to be see if its support to BJP would be able to tilt the scales as did Jannayak Janata Party’s in Haryana or if the JMM-Congress-RJD alliance would sufficient numbers to form the next government in the state.