Jharkhand Election Results 2019: With eye on CM post, will Hemant Soren win Dumka, Barhait?

Amid the Jharkhand Election Results, all eyes are on Hemant Soren, the working president of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), who is also one of the most favoured chief ministerial candidates in the state. JMM is in alliance with Congress in the tribal-dominated state.

Hemant Soren is the son of former Jharkhand Chief Minister Shibu Soren.  Soren is contesting the Jharkhand assembly elections from two seats Dumka and Barhait. Woman and Child Welfare Minister Lois Marandi and Simon Malto - both from BJP - are giving tough competition to Soren in Dumka and Barhait respectively.

Jharkhand assembly election results: Dumka

The BJP candidate Marandi had defeated Hemant Soren by more than 5,000 votes in the 2014 elections. However, Soren was elected as an MLA from Dumka in 2009.

Jharkhand assembly election results: Barhait

Hemant Soren had contested from the same seats in 2014. While he did not have much luck in Dumka, he won from the Barhait seat. He also went on to become the Leader of Opposition.

This year, BJP brought the big guns during the campaign. Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed public meetings in both Dumka and Barhait.

After the Jharkhand assembly polls were over on Friday, Soren took to Twitter and said, "I addressed 182 rallies, public meetings road shows besides innumerable corner meetings. We could not give advertisement in newspapers and TV channels because we are the voice of the poor and the exploited. We do not have money power. BJP fielded army of star campaigners from other states. BJP-AJSU spent money like flowing water in this election. But it was not me, but people of Jharkhand who were contesting this election."

The JMM maintains that it will win big from both the Jharkhand assembly seats of Barhait and Dumka. As per the India Today-Axis My India survey, 29 per cent prefer Hemant Soren as their chief ministerial candidate. Chief Minister Raghubar Das is also not far behind with 26 per cent hoping to see him back in power. Ten per cent people prefer Babulal Marandi, while 9 per cent want to see AJSU president Sudesh Mahato as the Chief Minister.

JMM, Congress and RJD contested the election in alliance against the ruling BJP-JAUS alliance. The JMM contested 43 seats, while Congress contested 31 seats and the RJD in the rest seven seats.

Also read: Jharkhand Election Results 2019 Live Updates: BJP edges past Cong; Hemant Soren, Raghubar Das take early leads

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