Maharashtra, Jharkhand results to set tone for Parliament's winter session

Polling for the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly and remaining 38 of 81 seats of the Jharkhand Assembly will take place on Wednesday.

 

Counting of votes is set to take place on Saturday and this could set the tone for Parliament’s winter session, which begins on Monday and is scheduled to end on December 20.

 

In both the states, apart from their respective ideological planks, the principal rivals have competed with each other, promising sops and welfare schemes for women, farmers and unemployed youths. 

 

 

Jharkhand

 

In Jharkhand, the first phase of polling on 43 seats took place on November 13. The highlight was the higher turnout of women. According to the Election Commission, the overall turnout was 66.65 per cent, 2.75 per cent more than the turnout on these seats five years back. The turnout of men was 64.27 per cent and 69.04 per cent of women voters turned up to cast their ballots. 

 

The percentage turnout of women has been better than that of men in Jharkhand in the 2014 and 2019 Assembly polls as well. In 2014, 65.9 per cent of men and 67 per cent of women electors voted. Five years later, the turnout for men and women was 63.58 per cent and 66.92 per cent, respectively.

 

In Jharkhand, results on the 28 seats reserved for Scheduled Tribes (STs) would be crucial for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led alliance if it is to defeat the ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM)-led coalition.

 

Twenty of these ST reserved seats voted in phase 1. Phase 2 polling will see voting on four seats where former chief minister and JMM patriarch Shibu Soren’s family members are contesting.

 

This includes his daughter-in-law Sita Soren, who is now a BJP candidate from Jamtara. Shibu’s son, Chief Minister Hemant Soren is in the fray from Barhait, which he has represented since 2014.

 

Hemant’s wife Kalpana, who has addressed well attended rallies during the campaign, is the candidate from Giridih’s Gandey seat, which she won in a bypoll earlier this year. Hemant’s brother Basant is a candidate from Dumka. All three are JMM candidates.

 

The JMM-Congress alliance is hopeful of returning to power with support from women for its government’s monthly allowance scheme of Rs 1,000. The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has infiltrated its primary plank.

 

Smaller parties, such as Jairam Mahato-led Jharkhand Lokantrik Krantikari Morcha, also hope to make a mark.

 

Maharashtra  

 

The Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) is hopeful of replicating its 2014 Lok Sabha performance, where it won 30 of the 48 seats to the ruling Mahayuti's 17 seats. 

 

The MVA has flagged farm distress, demand for caste census and key investment projects leaving the state for Gujarat as the main issues. The ruling Mahayuti believes that it has countered the anti-incumbency with its monthly allowance for women, the Majhi Ladki Bahin scheme.

 

The BJP's use of slogans like "Batenge toh katenge" and "Ek hai toh safe hai" prompted the opposition parties to accuse the Mahayuti of polarising voters along religious lines.

 

However, ally Ajit Pawar, who leads the Nationalist Congress Party, distanced himself from the slogans.

 

The BJP is contesting in 149 seats, Shiv Sena 81, and the Ajit Pawar-led NCP in 59 constituencies.

 

As for the MVA, the Congress has fielded 101 candidates, Shiv Sena (UBT) 95, and NCP (SP) has put up 86 candidates. There are a total 97.02 million electors in Maharashtra.