Counting for 81 Jharkhand Assembly seats to begin tomorrow, exit polls predict 'hung assembly'

The results of the Jharkhand Assembly election will be announced on Monday. All arrangements are in place for the counting of votes tomorrow morning.

The 81 Assembly seats in the state went to polls in five phases from November 30 to December 20.

The counting of votes will start at 8 am in all 24 district headquarters amid tight security. The final result is likely to be announced by 1 pm tomorrow.

According to the ABP/C-Voters, JMM, Congress and RJD will retain 35 seats. It has, however, given 32 seats to the ruling BJP, 5 to AJSU and three to the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) and six to others.

India Today-Axis My India exit poll has shown the BJP going to trail behind the Congress. It has given JMM-led opposition between 38 and 50 seats and the BJP between 22 and 32 seats. It has predicted 3 to 5 seats for the AJSU party, 2 to 4 seats for the JVM-P, and 4 to 7 seats to others.

According to the Election Commission of India, the approximate voter turnout for all the 81 assembly constituencies across the five phases was 65.17 per cent as compared to the 66.53 per cent recorded in the 2014 elections.

In 2014, the BJP had a clear majority in the House with 37 seats, while its ally AJSU managed to win five Assembly seats.

Incumbent Chief Minister Raghubar Das is seeking a second five-year term. The BJP leader has also become the first chief minister of the state to complete a full term in the office.

The tenure of the current Assembly ends on January 5, 2020. This is the fourth Assembly election in Jharkhand since the state was carved out of Bihar in 2000.