2024 Jharkhand Legislative Assembly election

2024 Jharkhand Legislative Assembly election

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All 81 seats in the Jharkhand Legislative Assembly 41 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Turnout	68.45% ( 3.07 pp)
Majority party Minority party Third party   Leader Hemant Soren Babulal Marandi Rameshwar Oraon Party JMM BJP INC Alliance MGB NDA MGB Leader since 2024 2020 2019 Leader's seat Barhait (won) Dhanwar (won) Lohardaga (won) Last election 18.72%, 30 seats 33.37%, 25 seats 13.88%, 16 seats Seats won 34 21 16 Seat change 4 4 Popular vote 4,183,281 5,921,474 2,776,806 Percentage 23.44% 33.18% 15.56% Swing 4.72 pp 0.19 pp 1.68 pp   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Satyanand Bhogta Janardhan Prasad Jairam Kumar Mahato Party RJD CPI(ML)L JLKM Alliance MGB MGB Leader since 2019 2019 2024 Leader's seat Did not contest Did not contest Dumri (won), Bermo (lost) Last election 2.75%, 1 seat 1.15%%, 1 seat New Seats won 4 2 1 Seat change 3 1 New Popular vote 613,880 337,062 1,092,178 Percentage 3.45% 1.89% 5.78 Swing 0.70 pp 0.74 pp New
Partywise results by constituency Alliance wise results by constituency Constituencies of the Jharkhand Legislative Assembly
Partywise structure Alliance wise structure
Chief Minister before election Hemant Soren JMM Chief Minister after election Hemant Soren JMM

The 2024 Jharkhand Legislative Assembly election was held in three phases from 13 to 20 November 2024 to elect all 81 members of the Jharkhand Legislative Assembly.^[1] The counting of votes was done on 24 November 2024. The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha won 34 seats, securing 23.44% of the popular vote and its alliance, Mahagathbandhan (INDIA Bloc) including the Congress, CPI(ML)L and RJD won 56 seats, securing 44.37% of the popular vote. The Bharatiya Janata Party won 21 seats, securing 33.18% of the popular vote and its alliance, NDA won 24 seats, securing 38.14% of the popular vote.^[2]

The tenure of 5th Jharkhand Assembly is scheduled to end on 5 January 2025.^[3] The previous assembly elections were held in November–December 2019. The coalition of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, Indian National Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal formed the state government, with Hemant Soren becoming the Chief Minister.^[4]

The Bharatiya Janata Party's campaign focused on religious polarisation and ran a high decibel campaign on claims of "infiltration" by Bangladeshis.^[5][6] The party pushed the narratives of love jihad and land jihad with the claim that "infiltrators" were marrying tribal women and taking over tribal lands causing fall in the tribal population.^[7][8][9] The campaign characterised Muslims as infiltrators.^[10][9]

A report by the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes claims to have confirmed infiltration in the Santhal Pargana region, based on anecdotal evidence gathered from local residents. The report, submitted to the Home Ministry on September, 2024, but not made public, alleges a reduction in the Adivasi population over the past two decades, which attributes to infiltration.^[11] The Home Ministry, in a submission to the Jharkhand High Court on September 11, acknowledged a decrease in the tribal population since 1951 but attributed it to various factors, including migration, low birth rates, and religious conversions, without explicitly linking it to infiltration.^[12]

According to ground reports, even people who said they would vote BJP were skeptical of these claims and it had caused apprehensions against the campaign particularly among tribals in the Kolhan region for reasons of impact on communal amity and being cast as part of the broader Hindu community.^[5] These claims were described as a bogey by civil society organisations which attempted to counter the narrative on the ground by bringing data to people that the fall in tribal population is not large and caused by factors like out of state migration of tribals for jobs.^[6]

Election campaigns have focused heavily on populist welfare schemes. The JMM government’s Mukhyamantri Maiya Samman Yojana, which provides Rs 1,000 per month to women, was countered by the BJP's Gogo-Didi Yojana, promising Rs 2,100.^[13] In response, the JMM increased its scheme’s payout to Rs 2,500, effective December 2024. The BJP has also pledged subsidized LPG cylinders, monthly stipends for unemployed graduates and postgraduates, and extensive job creation programs.^[14][15]

The JMM has accused the BJP-led Central government of withholding funds owed to the state, with Chief Minister Hemant Soren demanding the release of Rs 1.36 trillion in dues from coal companies.^[16] Soren has emphasized that the demand is for rightful state funds, not a special grant.^[14][17][15]

Corruption charges have taken center stage, with BJP leaders highlighting Soren’s alleged involvement in a land-related money laundering case.^[18][19] The JMM has countered these accusations by asserting that the BJP is targeting Soren unfairly because he is a tribal leader.^[14][15]

The tribal vote, crucial in Jharkhand politics, may be affected by internal divisions within the JMM. Senior JMM leader Champai Soren’s defection to the BJP and his popularity in tribal areas could potentially split votes and weaken the JMM-Congress-RJD alliance.^[14][20][15]

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In the first phase of voting on November 13, 2024, electorates exercised their franchise across 43 Assembly constituencies spread over 15 districts contested by 638 candidates. The overall voting percentage was 66.65%. While 69.04% of women voters came out to press the EVM button, the percentage for men was 64.27% while just 31.02% of the third gender voted. In 37 of the 43 constituencies that voted in the first phase, the female voters had a higher turnout than males.

The maximum voting percentage was recorded in the Kharsawan Assembly with 77.32%. The next two seats were Baharagora (76.15%) and Lohardaga (73.21%). However, Ranchi saw the lowest polling with just 51.5% of the electorate participating in the election process.

The second phase on November 20 saw voting taking place in 38 Assembly seats. The number of candidates is 528. The polling percentage in 38 constituencies of Jharkhand was 68.45%.

Party		Flag	Symbol	Leader	Seats contested
	Jharkhand Mukti Morcha			Hemant Soren	43[a]
	Indian National Congress			Rameshwar Oraon	30[b]
	Rashtriya Janata Dal			Abhay Kumar Singh[22]	7[b]
	Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation			Manoj Bhakt[23]	4[a]

Party[24]		Flag	Symbol	Leader	Seats contested
	Bharatiya Janata Party			Babulal Marandi	68
	All Jharkhand Students Union			Sudesh Mahto	10
	Janata Dal (United)			Khiru Mahto[25]	2
	Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas)			Birendra Prasad Pradhan	1

Party[26]		Flag	Symbol	Leader	Seats contested
	Bahujan Samaj Party			TBA	81
	Jharkhand Loktantrik Krantikari Morcha[27][28]			Jairam Kumar Mahato	68[29]
	Jharkhand Party			Ajit Kumar	16
	Communist Party of India			Mahendra Pathak	15[30]
	Azad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram)			Chandrashekhar Azad	14
	Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communist)			Robin Samajpati	14
	Samajwadi Party			TBA	12
	Communist Party of India (Marxist)			Prakash Viplav	9
	Jharkhand People's Party			Surya Singh Besra	8
	Revolutionary Socialist Party			Manoj Bhattacharya[31]	TBD
	All India Forward Bloc			Arun Mondal	TBD
	All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen			TBA	TBD
	Nationalist Congress Party			TBA	TBD
	Bharat Adivasi Party			Prem Shankar Shahi Munda	19

According to a Lokniti post-poll survey, the INDIA alliance’s Maiya Samman Scheme, which initially provided ₹1,000 and later increased to ₹2,500, garnered support from 47% of registered women voters, particularly in rural areas. In contrast, the BJP’s Gogo Didi Scheme, offering ₹2,100, found greater appeal among urban women voters. Overall, women showed stronger backing for the INDIA alliance (45%) compared to the BJP (38%), with rural women (48%) and tribal women (60%) favoring INDIA significantly. The BJP, however, performed better among urban and non-tribal women voters. A notable outcome was the BJP securing only one ST-reserved seat, reflecting tribal dissatisfaction attributed to issues such as changes in tenancy laws, messaging perceived as undermining tribal identity, and Hemant Soren’s incarceration. Women voter turnout was remarkably high at 70.46% (91.16 lakh), surpassing men’s turnout of 65% (85.64 lakh), with the gender gap widening compared to the previous Lok Sabha elections.^[33][34]

Alliance/ Party				Popular vote			Seats
				Votes	%	±pp	Contested	Won[35]	+/−
	MGB		JMM	4,183,281	23.44	4.72	43	34	4
			INC	2,776,805	15.56	1.68	30	16
			RJD	613,880	3.44	0.69	7	4	3
			CPI(ML)L	337,062	1.89	0.74	4	2	1
		Total		7,911,028	44.33	8.98	81	56	8
	NDA		BJP	5,921,474	33.18	0.19	68	21	4
			AJSU	632,186	3.54	4.56	10	1	1
			JD(U)	145,040	0.81	0.07	2	1	1
			LJP(RV)	109,019	0.61	New	1	1	New
		Total		6,807,719	38.14	4.68	81	24	3
	JLKM			1,092,178	6.20	New	68	1	New
	Other parties							0	4
	Independents			1,126,753	6.39			0	2
	NOTA			226,431	1.27
Total					100%	-	81	81	-

Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended his congratulations to the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) on its electoral victory, to which Chief Minister Hemant Soren responded with gratitude, thanking the Prime Minister for his wishes.^{[38][importance?]} Chief Minister Hemant Soren lauded the state's democratic engagement. Soren also expressed gratitude to the people for their overwhelming support and underscored the cultural and political vision encapsulated in the phrase "Abua Raj, Abua Sarkar" (our state, our government), which he asserted as a commitment to the ideals of self-reliance and local empowerment.^[39]

Following the Jharkhand Assembly election results, incidents of violence and vandalism come up, signaling the presence of deep political divides. A person named Imam Mirza in Mohammadpur village was alleged by the BJP to have been attacked by JMM workers for supporting BJP. In Barkagaon, the Congress candidate Amba Prasad alleged that her car came under attack from supporters of the newly elected BJP MLA Roshan Lal Choudhary after the result. Prasad showed images of her car with a bashed in windshield to support her assertion and questioned their motives.^[40]

• 2024 elections in India
• Elections in Jharkhand
• Government of Jharkhand
• Jharkhand Legislative Assembly
• List of chief ministers of Jharkhand
• List of deputy chief ministers of Jharkhand
• Politics of Jharkhand
• 2024 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly election