BJP-AJSU alliance gets clear majority, to form government in Jharkhand

Breaking from fractured mandates in Jharkhand in the past, BJP-AJSU alliance today secured an absolute majority in the 81-member Assembly.

Of the results of 80 seats declared out of total 81, BJP won 37 seats while its ally AJSU Party secured five seats. JMM won 19 seats and JVMP bagged eight.

The state, which has seen nine governments and three stints of President’s rule in 14 years, gave a decisive mandate this time as Prime Minister Narendra Modi played the development card in the campaign.

Modi in his extensive campaign had put stress on a stable government promising all-round development for the state where the big issues are Naxalism, corruption and mining.

The BJP-AJSU alliance secured 42 seats, the saffron party having alone won 37.

The previous two assembly polls in the state in 2005 and 2009 had produced a fractured mandate leading to repeated instability.

In the last election, BJP had won 18 seats, the same as JMM, its main rival this time. BJP more than doubled its tally.

As many as nine ministers in Hemant Soren government bit the dust. The chief minister himself won from Barhait constituency but lost from Dumka, of which he is the sitting MLA.

Contesting alone, BJP’s main rival JMM has won 18 seats and was leading in one. The party had contested 79 seats.

Congress managed to win a paltry five constituencies as against 14 it had won in the 2009 Assembly election.

Result for the Panki seat, where Congress candidate Bidesh Singh is leading over his nearest rival Independent candidate Kushwaha Sashi Bhushan Mehta by around 1,000 votes, remains to be announced.

Congress’ alliance partners RJD and JD(U) drew a blank. In the last Assembly election, RJD had secured five seats and JD(U) 2.

Amidst its victory march, BJP, however, got a shock when its heavyweight leader and three-time chief minister Arjun Munda lost from Kharsawan.

However, the party’s national vice-president Raghuvar Das won the Jamshedpur East seat.

BJP’s alliance partner AJSU suffered a jolt as its chief and former deputy chief minister Sudesh Mahto lost from his home turf Silli which he had represented for 15 years.

PDP ahead in hung J and K, BJP to form govt in J”khand

Jammu and Kashmir today returned a highly-fractured verdict in which the PDP emerged the single largest party throwing up different possibilities in government formation while the BJP stormed to power with an ally in Jharkhand giving it the first stable government.

With 28 seats, the PDP was in a pole position to form the government but the party appeared to be keeping all options open like the BJP which has won 25 seats, all in the Jammu region, recording its best performance in the state.

The BJP’s success in Jharkhand comes on top of its victory in Maharashtra and Haryana in the recent assembly elections after the stupendous victory in Lok Sabha polls.

However, the BJP, for whom Prime Minister Narendra Modi carried out a high voltage campaign of ‘Mission 44+’ in the 87 member Jammu and Kashmir Assembly, failed to make any breakthrough in the Valley and Ladakh where it drew a blank in 50 seats.

In the Valley, the party suffered the ignominy of all but one of its 34 candidates losing their deposit. However, the party had more than doubled its seats from 11 in 2008 to 25 now while the PDP went up from 21 to 28.

The ruling National Conference suffered a defeat when it secured only 15 seats against 28 it had won in the last elections.

Chief Minister and NC President Omar Abdullah lost from Sonawar seat but managed to cling on to Beerwah with a slender margin of 1000 votes.

Its partner in the government Congress slipped to the fourth position getting 12 seats against 17 it had. Jammu Kashmir People Conference headed by former separatist Sajjad Lone won two seats while JKPDF (secular) and CPI-M won one seat each. Independents won in three seats.

As the picture became clear, BJP President Amit Shah said all three options were open for the party.

“The option of forming the government, the option of supporting a government and the option of participating in a government are all open,” Shah told reporters in Delhi.

To further questions, he said it is for the media to guess what the BJP would do. The party’s parliamentary board will meet tomorrow to discuss the situation.