Counting of votes for Maharashtra and Jharkhand Assembly elections 2024 will start from 8 am today on Saturday.
In Maharashtra, all eyes are on the outcome of the contest between the ruling BJP-led Mahayuti and the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), which is trying to return to power.
Most of the agencies conducting election surveys have expressed the possibility of ‘Mahayuti’ getting a huge majority in Maharashtra. A close contest can be seen in Jharkhand.
In such a situation, it will be interesting to see whether the exit polls prove to be true for both the states or the results come out differently.
Election officials said that the final turnout in the voting held on November 20 was 66.05 percent whereas in 2019 this figure was 61.1 percent. Today, a total of 288 counting centers have been set up for counting of votes, which also includes one center for Nanded Lok Sabha by-election.
A total of 288 counting observers will monitor each assembly constituency, while two observers have been appointed to monitor counting in the Nanded Lok Sabha by-election, an official said.
The official said that due to the high number of postal ballots, 1,732 tables for counting of postal ballots and 592 tables for Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballot System (ETPBS) have been installed to ensure smooth counting process in all the assembly constituencies.
In the grand alliance, Bharatiya Janata Party had fielded candidates on 149 assembly seats, Shiv Sena on 81 seats and Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) had fielded candidates on 59 constituencies.
In the opposition MVA alliance, Congress fielded 101 candidates, Shiv Sena (Ubatha) 95 and NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) 86 candidates.
Parties like Bahujan Samaj Party and All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) also contested the elections, in which BSP fielded 237 candidates and AIMIM 17 candidates. The tenure of the current state assembly ends on November 26.
Jharkhand: Preparation for equations after counting of votes
Preparations for the counting of votes to be held today after the Jharkhand Assembly elections have been completed and political leaders and parties are eagerly awaiting the results. The results coming today will decide whether the next government in Jharkhand will be formed by the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) or the JMM-led alliance will once again come to power. Counting of postal ballots will start at 8 am and trends will start coming by 9 am.
This time voting reached a record 67.74 percent, the highest since the formation of the state on November 15, 2000. Elections in the state were held in two phases on 13 and 20 November. Of the total 81 seats, voting was held in 43 constituencies in the first phase, while voting was held in 38 constituencies in the second phase.
The state witnessed a tough electoral contest between the ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha-led ‘India’ and the BJP-led NDA, in which JMM is trying to regain power, while the BJP is trying to snatch power from the ruling alliance. Some exit polls predict that the BJP-led NDA will oust the ruling JMM-led alliance from power, while others predict the return of the ‘Indian National Development Inclusive Alliance’ (India) in Jharkhand.
All eyes will be on the key seats that will decide the electoral fate of key politicians. Chief Minister Hemant Soren has contested from Barhet, his wife Kalpana from Gandey, while leader of opposition Amar Kumar Bauri (BJP) has contested from Chandankiyari. A total of 1,211 candidates were in the fray, including BJP’s Babulal Marandi in Dhanwar and JMM’s Ravindra Nath Mahato in Nala.
Other prominent leaders included Congress’s Deepika Pandey Singh from Mahagama, Sita Soren (sister-in-law of Chief Minister Hemant Soren) from Jamtara, All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) chief Sudesh Mahato from Silli and former chief minister Champai Soren from Seraikela.
In the 2019 elections in the state, among the ST reserved seats, JMM had won 19, Congress six, BJP two and JVM(P) one. Of the SC seats, JMM had managed to win 2, BJP 6 and RJD 1.
The contest in the 2019 assembly elections was close, in which JMM won 30 seats and BJP got 25 seats, whereas in 2014 it had won 37 seats. The JMM-Congress-RJD alliance was successful in securing an easy majority with 47 seats.
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