Jharkhand Phase 1 elections: Stage set for high-stakes clash between BJP and INDIA bloc over 43 parliamentary seats | India News – Times of India

NEW DELHI: The stage is set for the first phase of voting on 43 seats in Jharkhand spread across 15 districts. The phase 1 of elections in the state on Wednesday will decide the fate of several key leaders, including former chief minister Champai Soren, who is contesting on a BJP ticket after ending his over four decades of association with the JMM. Prime Minister Hemant Soren is doing everything he can to retain power and is facing a stiff challenge from the BJP, which is keen to regain power after five years. Both the ruling JMM-led INDIA bloc and the BJP waged an often bitter, high-decibel campaign to woo voters, especially tribals who hold the key to several seats.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who has anchored the BJP’s campaign in the state, has made Bengali infiltration a major election issue. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, all senior BJP leaders have attacked the Hemant Soren government for encouraging infiltration for political gain. Hemant Soren, with the help of the top Congress leadership, has countered the BJP’s offensive by accusing the saffron party of spreading the poison of communalism in the state.

The BJP, which has ruled the state for the longest time since bifurcation from Bihar in 2000, was voted out of power in 2019 after it could win only 25 of the 81 seats in the Jharkhand Assembly. The JMM, led by Chief Minister Hemant Soren, won 30 seats five years ago and emerged as the largest party. It joined forces with the Congress (16 seats) and Lalu Prasad’s RJD, which had one seat, to lead a coalition government for five years. Hemant Soren, who had to vacate the top job soon after his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in an alleged corruption case, returned in time to lead the INDIA bloc campaign and is confident that the people of the state will give him another term.
Main seats:

List of 43 constituencies going to polls in Jharkhand Phase 1
1. Kodarma
2. Barkatha
3. Barhi
4. Barkagaon
5. Hazaribagh
6. Simaria (SC)
7. Chatra (SC)
8. Baharagora
9. Ghatsila (ST)
10. Potka (ST)
11. Jugsalai (SC)
12. Jamshedpur East
13. Jamshedpur West
14. Ichagarh
15. Seraikella (ST)
16. Chaibasa (ST)
17. Majhgaon (ST)
18. Jaganathpur (ST)
19. Manoharpur (ST)
20. Chakradharpur (ST)
21. Charsawan (ST)
22. Tamar (ST)
23. Torpa (ST)
24. Khunti (ST)
25. Ranchi
26. Hatia
27. Kanke (SC)
28. Mandar (ST)
29. Sisai (ST)
30. Gumla (ST)
31. Bishunpur (ST)
32. Simdega (ST)
33. Kolebira (ST)
34. Lohardaga (ST)
35. Manika (ST)
36. Latehar (SC)
37. Panki
38. Daltonganj
39.Bishrampur
40. Chhatarpur (SC)
41. Hussainabad
42.Garhwa
43.Bhawanathpur

(With input from the agency)