The counting of votes for 81 Jharkhand Assembly seats is currently underway. The BJP faces tough competition against the Congress-Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) alliance. The saffron party, for the first time, fought in the tribal state on its own to retain power.
Jharkhand went to polls in five phases from November 30 to December 20. The counting is taking place at all the 24 district headquarters.
Currently, the BJP has 43 MLAs in the state Assembly, JMM 19, Congress eight, AJSU three, JVM(P) two, CPI(ML) Liberation one, and MCC one and others two.
Follow all updates here:
6:55 PM: "Congratulations to Hemant Soren and the JMM-led alliance for the victory in the Jharkhand polls. Best wishes to them in serving the state," Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweets.
6:20 PM: "We respect the mandate of people of Jharkhand, are thankful to them for giving BJP chance to govern state for five years," says Home Minister Amit Shah.
6:00 PM: "It is my defeat, not of BJP," Jharkhand's outgoing Chief Minister Raghubar Das says.
5:40 PM: West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee said the Jharkhand verdict was in favour of citizens at a time of intense protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and National Register of Citizens.
"Congratulations @HemantSorenJMMji, @RJDforIndia, @INCJharkhand on winning. People of Jharkhand have entrusted you to fulfill their aspirations," she tweeted.
5:20 PM: "Jharkhand results show people are with non-BJP parties," says NCP chief Sharad Pawar.
5:18 PM: "The JMM, Congress and RJD alliance leaders will meet soon to strategize about future," says JMM leader Hemant Soren
5:09 PM: Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram congratulated the JMM-Congress alliance for winning the elections and said, "The BJP is not unbeatable. If all opposition parties rally together and understand the dangers faced by the country and come together; surely the BJP can be defeated and the BJP will be defeated in future elections also."
4:55 PM: The JMM chief says, "A new chapter begins for Jharkhand; people's expectations will be fulfilled."
4:53 PM: Hemant Soren thanks alliance partners during his press briefing. "I am grateful to Lalu Prasad, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi," Soren says.
4:48 PM: JMM leader Hemant Soren thanks people of the state for the mandate.
4:14 PM: BJP leader and Chief Minister Raghubar Das says BJP will accept people's mandate.
3:18 PM: JMM leader Hemant Soren meets his father and former CM, Shibu Soren, in Ranchi.
2:20 PM: Saryu Rai, the independent candidate from Jamshedpur East who is leading against Jharkhand CM Raghubar Das, says, "Lead of about 1500-2000 will continue in the coming rounds of counting. I could win by a margin of 30,000 votes."
Rai is leading by 4643 votes.
2:08 PM: As per official Election Commission trends, BJP is currently leading on 31 seats and Congress-JMM-RJD alliance on 40 seats (JMM 23, Congress 13 and RJD 4).
1:35 PM: As trends for the Jharkhand Assembly elections showed the Congress-JMM alliance ahead of the ruling BJP, the NCP on Monday said people of Jharkhand have demolished the "arrogance" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the saffron party president Amit Shah.
1:21 PM: AJSU party's Sudesh Mahto is now leading in Silli seat by 10400 votes, JMM's Seema Devi is trailing.
12:50 PM: Jharkhand CM and BJP candidate from Jamshedpur East, Raghubar Das, is now trailing. Independent candidate Saryu Rai is leading by 771 votes.
12:41 PM: As per the latest trends, BJP leads in 29 seats, JMM in 24, Congress in 13, RJD in 5, JVM(P) in 4 and AJSU in 2 seats.
12:34 PM: JMM's Hemant Soren leading from both Barhait and Dumka seats.
12:03 PM: "We were confident that Jharkhand will give clear majority to our alliance. Trends are good but I won't make comment until the final result. We've clearly said that Hemant Soren will be CM candidate of our alliance," said Congress's Jharkhand in-charge, RPN Singh.
11:50 AM: Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das says he is confident of a victory. "Let me clearly state that we're not only winning but we'll also form the government under the leadership of BJP in the state," Das said.
11:40 AM: Former Jharkhand CM and JVM(P) chief Babulal Marandi leading from Dhanwar seat by 5980 votes.
11:37 AM: As the trends show Congress-JMM alliance heading for a victory, celebrations have erupted at Congress headquarters in New Delhi.
11:30 AM: With the counting of votes for the State Assembly elections underway, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) led alliance is leading on 42 seats out of total 81. While ruling BJP is ahead on 28 and AJSU on 3 seats.
11:03 AM: "The results are not as per our expectation. We will have to accept people's mandate. We will play the role which people's mandate has given us. Let the results come, then we will sit and discuss what to do," JVM(P) candidate from Dhanwar, Babulal Marandi.
10:50 AM: JMM's Hemant Soren is leading from Barhait assembly constituency, according to Election Commission of India. However, Hemant Soren is trailing from Dumka seat with BJP's Louis Marandi leading there by 6329 votes.
10:30 AM: BJP candidate Louis Marandi is leading from Dumka by over 6,000 votes, according to the Election Commission. The BJP candidate is pitted against Jharkhand Mukti Morcha's Hemant Soren, who is trailing in Dumka.
10:28 AM: Official Election Commission trends for 78 seats: BJP leading on 29 seats, JMM on 23, Congress on 11, RJD on 5, JVM (P) on 4, AJSU and BSP on 2 each and CPI (ML) on 1 seat.
10:25 AM: Among the seats that the BJP is leading are Baghmara, Barhi, Bishunpur, Dumka, Chandankiyari, Jamshedpur (West), Pakur, Panki, Potka, Simdega, Torpa, Hazaribagh.
10:23 AM: "There is going to be a clean sweep for Mahagathbandhan in this election. We have fought elections under the leadership of Hemant Soren. He is going to be the Chief Minister," says Tejashvi Yadav of RJD.
10:20 AM: Official Election Commission trends for 68 seats: BJP leading on 22 seats, JMM on 21, Congress on 10, RJD on 5, JVM (P) on 4, AJSU and BSP on 2 each and CPI (ML) on 1 seat.
10:05 AM: Ram Vichar Netam, the BJP in-charge of Jharkhand, on Monday expressed confidence over his party retaining majority for the second consecutive term in the state with maximum 50 seats.
"The early trends may not be in our favour. But gradually you will see that the BJP will take over in all the constituencies where we have expected victory. I have been saying from starting that the BJP will form the government with people's mandate and we will win at least 50 seats," Netam told ANI.
9:56 AM: Official Election Commission trends for 46 seats: BJP leading in 17 seats, Congress in 7, JMM in 13, RJD in 3, AJSU and BSP in 2 seats each & CPI (ML) in 1.
9:51 AM: Menka Sardar of BJP leads over Sanjib Sardar of JMM by 5,144 votes in Potka seat of Jharkhand.
9:46 AM: Counting of votes for the first round complete, reports ANI, adding BJP's Louis Marandi is leading by 3209 seats; JMM's Hemant Soren trails in Dumka.
9:37 AM: Sanjay Prasad Yadav of RJD leads over Amit Kumar Mandal of BJP by 3,315 votes in Godda seat of Jharkhand.
9:31 AM: Former Jharkhand chief minister Babulal Marandi of JVM (P) leads in Dhanwar seat
9:30 AM: AJSU Party candidate Lambodar Mahto leads over Babita Devi of JMM by 2,217 votes in Gomia seat
9:03AM: JMM working president Hemant Soren leads over state Welfare (Women & Child Development and Minority Affairs) Minister Lois Marandi after counting of postal ballots in Dumka seat
8:46 AM: The latest trend show that the JMM-Congress alliance leads in 39 seats, followed by the ruling BJP in 28 seats. AJSU, the former allay of the saffron party, leads in 6 constituencies.
8:23 AM: According to early leads, the JMM-Congress combine is leading in 27 seats followed by the ruling BJP which is leading in 16 constituencies.
8:11 AM:
7:47 AM: BJP, which had won 37 seats in the last Assembly elections, coined the slogan "Abki baar 65 paar". However, the ruling party is facing a stiff challenge as the alliance of JMM, Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) seems to have an advantage, as per exit polls released last week.
7:43 AM: Counting of votes to start shortly in Jharkhand.
