New Delhi:
Maharashtra saw a saffron wave as the BJP-led Mahayuti decimated the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi in state elections while INDIA bloc held its fortress in Jharkhand. Bypoll results were also declared for 48 assembly seats and two Lok Sabha seats.

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With his party winning three of the four Assembly seats in Punjab where bypolls were held, 
senior Aam Aadmi Party leader Raghav Chadha has said the results are a stamp of approval for the Bhagwant Mann government in the state under the leadership of party chief Arvind Kejriwal. 

Speaking to news agency ANI on Saturday, Mr Chadha pointed out that these three seats had never been won by the AAP before and also reflected on the results in Maharashtra – where the INDIA bloc was routed – and Jharkhand – which it retained – saying that it was a case of ‘kahin khushi, kahin gham‘ (happiness in one place, sadness in the other). 

“The results of the Punjab bypolls are very encouraging and I congratulate the workers of the AAP. The work of Bhagwan Mann’s government under the leadership of Arvind Kejriwal has been given a stamp of approval by the people. The three seats – Chabbewal, Gidderbaha and Dera Baba Nanak – that we have won today are constituencies where the AAP has never won,” he said in Hindi.

“When the Punjab Assembly elections were held in 2022, there was a tsunami in favour of Aam Aadmi Party, but we still could not win these seats. This shows that people have been influenced by the work done by our government in the past two-and-a-half years,” he added.

The Rajya Sabha MP said that even in the fourth seat of Barnala, the AAP had lost by a slim margin. 

Responding to a question on the Maharashtra and Jharkhand results, Mr Chadha said, “It is a case of ‘kahin khushi, kahin gham‘ for the INDIA alliance. The bloc lost in Maharashtra and the Eknath Shinde government and the coalition got an important victory. In Jharkhand, a negative type of politics, vendetta politics, has been rejected by the people, who have given a big mandate to Hemant Soren and the INDIA alliance. I believe that, with the Jharkhand victory, the negative kind of politics will weaken or end and the politics of governance development will get an impetus.”

The MP also said that a discussion will be held on the Maharashtra results after they have been analysed.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

As the JMM-led INDIA bloc crossed the majority mark in the Jharkhand Assembly elections, Chief Minister Hemant Soren took to social media to share a photograph of him and his children. The JMM chief and his wife Kalpana Soren are parents to two boys. Sharing a picture of his two sons, he wrote, “My strength.” 

The ruling JMM-led alliance – which includes the Congress and the RJD – under Mr Soren’s leadership, appears poised to secure a majority in the 81-member Assembly, as per the latest Election Commission data. With leads in 51 seats, the JMM-Congress-RJD alliance seems to have effectively countered the BJP-led NDA, which was ahead in 29 constituencies.

मेरी शक्ति pic.twitter.com/6NP6O6Vl7R

— Hemant Soren (@HemantSorenJMM) November 23, 2024

The BJP entered the fray with aggressive campaigning, focusing on issues such as “infiltrators” in the Santhal Parganas region. However, this narrative appears to have been overshadowed by the JMM’s emphasis on tribal identity and local pride, particularly amidst controversies surrounding Mr Soren’s legal battles and allegations of corruption.

According to the latest trends, the JMM was leading in 31 seats, the Congress in 14, and the RJD in four. The BJP held 26 leads, while smaller parties, including the AJSU Party and LJP (Ram Vilas), were ahead in a few scattered constituencies.

Key figures in the race include BJP state president Babulal Marandi, who maintained a lead in Dhanwar, and Congress heavyweight Rameshwar Oraon, who led in Lohardaga. On the JMM front, Mr Soren himself held a comfortable lead in Barhait, while his wife, Kalpana Soren, was trailing in Gandey.

The elections saw a record voter turnout of 67.74%, the highest since Jharkhand’s formation in 2000. Held in two phases on November 13 and 20, the polls reflected a deeply divided electorate. Exit polls had predicted a range of outcomes, with some forecasting a clear NDA win, while others saw the JMM-led bloc emerging victorious.

The JMM’s steady climb in the early hours of counting, despite a BJP surge, highlights the shifting dynamics of Jharkhand’s political landscape. The party’s grassroots connections, coupled with its emphasis on tribal rights and welfare, seem to have paid dividends against the BJP’s focus on national issues.

As counting progresses, the INDIA bloc appears confident of crossing the majority mark of 41 seats. If the trends hold, Hemant Soren is set to return as Chief Minister, buoyed by what he has described as the “strength” drawn not just from his family but also from the people of Jharkhand.