A second term for the alliance
Jharkhand's alliance government held on to power, defying a shake-up at the top of the state government.
A second term for the alliance
What happened
The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha held on to power in Jharkhand, ahead of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
It won 34 of the 81 seats.
The BJP led on vote share, 33.2% against 23.4% — the slice of all ballots cast that went to one party or candidate.
On its own it fell short of the 41-seat majority mark.
The Jharkhand Mahagathbandhan alliance behind it won 56 seats in all.
The campaign
Hemant Soren resigned as chief minister and was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on 31 January 2024 in a land-scam case. Champai Soren served as chief minister in his place until Soren, released on bail, returned to the post on 4 July.1
Champai Soren was sworn in as chief minister on 2 February, leading the JMM-led coalition government into the run-up to the election.2
On 19 March, sitting JMM MLA Sita Soren, Hemant Soren's sister-in-law, resigned from the party and joined the BJP.3
The Jharkhand High Court granted Soren bail on 28 June, and he was reinstated as chief minister on 4 July, days after his release. Champai Soren himself left the JMM and joined the BJP later that year, becoming a prominent campaigner for his new party.456
For the election, the JMM-led alliance fielded JMM in 43 seats, Congress in 30, the RJD in 7 and CPI(ML) Liberation in 4, against a BJP-led alliance of BJP in 68, AJSU in 10, JD(U) in 2 and LJP (Ram Vilas) in 1.7
- 1Hemant Soren's arrest and return as chief minister — Hemant Soren
- 2Champai Soren Sworn In as Chief Minister — Hemant Soren
- 3Sita Soren Resigns from JMM, Joins BJP — Sita Soren
- 4Jharkhand High Court Grants Hemant Soren Bail — Hemant Soren
- 5Hemant Soren Reinstated as Chief Minister — 2024 Jharkhand Legislative Assembly election, Champai Soren
- 6Champai Soren Leaves JMM, Joins BJP — Champai Soren
- 7Mahagathbandhan and NDA Finalise Seat-Sharing — 2024 Jharkhand Legislative Assembly election
What changed
The same alliance held on to power again, extending its recent run at the top.
The JMM has now led the government in 2 elections running.
Its own seat count grew too, from 30 to 34.
Turnout, the share of registered voters who actually cast a ballot, reached 68.3% — the highest the state has recorded.
The biggest shift ran from the BJP to the JMM, accounting for 6 of the 34 seats that changed hands.
Notable numbers
The tightest race was at Mandu, Jharkhand, decided by a margin of 231 votes — how far ahead the winner finished, over whoever came second.
Chaibasa, Jharkhand was the widest win, by 39.2% of the vote.
Nala, Jharkhand recorded the highest turnout of any seat this time, 81.1%.
One party, CPI(ML), won a seat in Jharkhand for the first time this election.
NOTA — None of the Above, a ballot option letting voters formally reject every candidate on offer — drew 2,26,431 votes statewide, 1.3% of the total.
The backdrop
Jharkhand became India's 28th state on 15 November 2000, carved out of southern Bihar's eighteen districts under the Bihar Reorganisation Act. Its first Vidhan Sabha election followed in 2005.8
- 8Formation of Jharkhand — Bihar Reorganisation Act, 2000