Barhait Assembly Seat Result 2024 Live: Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren is seeking re-election from Barhait assembly constituency seat. The sitting MLA was pitted against BJP candidate Gamliyel Hembrom.
Counting of votes began at 8 am, and Election Commission (EC) data trends at 6:00 pm indicate that Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) chief and state CM Hemant Soren emerged victorious from Barhait (ST) seat by 39,791 votes.
Soren logged 95,612 votes and his nearest opponent, BJP's Gamliyel Hembrom, notched 55,821.
Trends are out for all 81 seats, with the JMM-led INDIA bloc leaping ahead of rivals in at least 56 seats combined, while NDA is trailing with 24 seats. JMM is the single party that won in most seats — 20.
Overall, INDIA bloc leader JMM won in 20 seats, Congress in 9, RJD in 1, CPI (M-L) in 2, taking the alliance total to 56.
Meanwhile, the BJP is coasting solo, won 10 seats, with other alliance partners leading in 1 or 2 seats each.
Soren is the sitting MLA of Barhait (ST) constituency in the Sahibganj district. He had won the seat, under the Santhal Paragana region, considered a Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) bastion, by a margin of 25,740 votes over his nearest rival Simon Malto of the BJP in 2019.
Hembrom had contested from Barhait in the 2019 assembly elections on an AJSU Party ticket and polled 2,573 votes, occupying the fourth position.
While filing his nomination in October, BJP candidate Hembrom said, “Contesting against the chief minister is a challenge but the people of Barhait have decided to accept the challenge. People of the constituency are still struggling for even basic infrastructure such as roads and drinking water.”
He said that he would work to improve the basic infrastructure, mainly roads, drinking water, electricity and school education.
Notably, in the 2019 state assembly elections, Soren contested from and won both Dumka and Barhait, choosing to retain the latter. He won Dumka by 13,188 votes by beating BJP’s Lois Marandi, who is in the 2024 assembly polls contesting as a JMM candidate.
The stage set for outcome of battle between JMM-Congress-RJD alliance and the BJP-led NDA. Varun Ranjan, Deputy Commissioner and District Election Officer, Ranchi, told ANI that all arrangements have been made and officials are briefed about the counting process and do's and don'ts.
"We have also explained them scenarios like if there is data mismatch in EVMs, if data is not coming on EVMs, then what they have to do. They have also been told how to count postal ballots," he said.
Exit polls have been split, with many favouring an NDA victory in the state. Jharkhand had voting in two phases for a total of 81 assembly constituencies. The first day being November 13 and second being November 20. The state saw 67.74 per cent voter turnout in the two phases of elections.
The JMM-alliance includes the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, Indian National Congress (Congress), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), and the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist). The NDA comprises of Bharatiya Janata Party, the All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU), Janata Dal (United), and Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas).
(With inputs from PTI)
