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Resource rich Jharkhand, which has had nine chief ministers and 14 governors in the last 14-years, might finally get a stable government.
The results show that Narendra Modi magic was still at work, though waning a tad, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) combine leading in 38 seats.
The majority mark in the 81-member Jharkhand assembly is 41-seats. The BJP had won 12 of the 14 Lok Sabha seats in Jharkhand.
The election trends seemed to belie the exit polls, some of which like Today's Chanakya had predicted 61 seats for the BJP. Others had predicted over 50 seats for the party.
The BJP had won 18 seats in the 2009 assembly elections. That election, as had the 2000 and 2004 elections, thrown up hung assemblies and unstable governments.
The BJP might have performed poorly compared to its internal assessments but it is in the striking distance to form the government. It could reach out to some of the smaller parties to rustle up the requisite majority for a BJP-AJSU alliance government.
The biggest loser in the elections was the Congress, which was leading in eight seats, a sharp drop from its 14 seats in the 2009 assembly.
The Hemant Soren-led Jharkhand Mukti Morcha seemed to be improving its tally by leading in 22 seats. It had 18 seats in the last assembly. The data indicates that the BJP might have failed to make inroads into JMM's Santhal Parganas strongholds despite unceasing work by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) affiliate Vanavasi Kalyan Parishad over the years, including 'ghar wapsi' campaigns to convert Christian tribals to Hinduism and recasting 'adivasi' (literally original inhabitants) to vanavasi (forest dwellers).
The speculation is now likely to centre on the chief ministerial candidate. The CM candidate will be decided by Prime Minister Narenda Modi and BJP President Amit Shah in signs that the BJP under these two leaders is replicating the Congress' 'party high command' culture. It was evident in the appointment of Manohar Lal Khattar as the CM in Haryana.
The contenders in Jharkhand are former CM Arjun Munda, BJP vice president Raghuvar Das and Saryu Rai.
Munda is the BJP's tribal face. However, his earlier tenure as the CM was marred by allegations of corruption.
It is unlikely that Yashwant Sinha, despite his ceaseless campaigning and spending days in prison, could be a choice for the CM candidate. The BJP under Modi has followed the dynastic principle to give ministerial or party offices only to one member from a family. Sinha's son Jayant is now a minister in the union government.
