The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday announced the schedule for the 2024 Jharkhand Legislative Assembly elections. Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar revealed that voting for the 81 assembly seats will take place in two phases—on November 13 and November 20. The counting of votes will be done on November 23.
Jharkhand has 24 districts, with 44 general seats out of a total of 81 assembly constituencies. Chief Election Commissioner Rajeev Kumar shared that the state has 2.6 crore registered voters, including 1.31 crore men and 1.29 crore women. Among the voters, 11.84 lakh are first-time voters aged 18-19, and there are 66.84 lakh young voters aged 20-29. Additionally, there are 3.67 lakh Persons with Disabilities (PwD) voters and 1,706 voters over the age of 100. The state will have 29,562 polling stations, with 5,042 located in urban areas and 24,520 in rural regions.
Out of the 81 seats in the Jharkhand Legislative Assembly, a party or coalition needs to win at least 41 seats to secure a majority.
The Jharkhand State Assembly's term will end on January 5, 2025, with elections set for 81 constituencies, including 44 General, 9 SC, and 28 ST seats. In the first phase seats where polls will be held on November 13 are Koderma, Barkatha, Barhi, Barkagaon, Hazaribagh, Simaria, Chatra, Baharagora, Ghatshila, Potka, Jugsalai, Jamshedpur East, Jamshedpur West, Ichagarh, Saraikela, Chaibasa, Majhgaon, Jagannathpur, Manoharpur, Chakradharpur, Kharsawan, Tamar, Torpa, Khunti, Ranchi, Hatia, Kanke, Mandar, Sisai, Gumla, Vishnupur, Simdega, Kolebira, Lohardaga, Manika, Latehar, Panki, Daltonganj, Vishrampur, Chhatarpur, Hussainabad, Garhwa, Bhawanathpur.
Seats where polls will be held on November 20
Seats- Rajmahal, Borio, Barhet, Littipara, Pakur, Maheshpur, Shikaripara, Nala, Jamtara, Dumka, Jama, Jarmundi, Madhupur, Sarath, Deoghar, Poraiyahat, Godda, Mahagama, Ramgarh, Mandu, Dhanwar, Bagodar, Jamua, Gandey, Giridih, Dumri, Gomia, Bermo, Bokaro, Chandankyari, Sindri, Nirsa, Dhanbad, Jharia, Tundi, Bagmara, Silli and Khijri.
In the last assembly elections in 2019, voting took place in five phases from November 30 to December 20, with the results declared on December 21. Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) secured 30 seats, the Congress 16, and the BJP won 25. The AJSU Party gained two seats, while Babulal Marandi's JVM(P) won three. Two months after the election, in February 2020, Marandi merged his JVM party with the BJP.
With the announcement of poll dates the Model Code of Conduct has come into effect in Jharkhand from 3.30 pm on October 15, 2024. Chief Electoral Officer, Jharkhand, K. Ravi Kumar has informed that the elections will be held in two phases on November 13 and 20. Counting of votes will be done on November 23. The notification for the first phase of elections will be issued on October 18 and for the second phase on October 22.
He said that the Election Commission will ensure compliance with the Model Code of Conduct. Free, fair and peaceful elections will be our priority. Increasing the voting percentage in urban areas is also on our priority list. He was addressing the media at Nirvachan Sadan, Dhurva on Tuesday. The Chief Electoral Officer said that voting will be held in 43 assembly constituencies in the first phase and in 38 assembly constituencies in the second phase. Nominations for the first phase will be till October 25 and the last date for nomination for the second phase will be October 29. Scrutiny of nominations for the first phase will be on October 28 and scrutiny of the second phase will be on October 30. He said that the last date for withdrawal of nomination for the first phase of elections is 30 October and the last date for withdrawal of nomination for the second phase is 01 November. The entire election process will end on 25 November.
Responding to questions from journalists, he said that extensive preparations have been made to ensure that voters do not face any inconvenience regarding voting. Election personnel have also been trained for this. Arrangements are also being made to reduce the wait of voters at polling stations. He said that the Election Commission will also release an app, through which voters will be able to get information about the status of polling stations, such as how many people are in queue for voting at the polling station, from home.
He said that this app will be very beneficial for elderly voters. At the same time, voters above 85 years of age will also have the facility to vote from home. For this, they will have to fill Form 12 D. He said that candidates can spend up to Rs 40 lakh in election campaign. Additional Chief Electoral Officer Dr. Neha Arora and Sandeep Singh were also present along with the Chief Electoral Officer in the press conference.
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Dates to remember
Date of issue of gazette notification - October 18 (Phase 1) and October 22 (Phase 2)
Last date of nominations - October 25 (Phase 1) and October 29 (Phase 2)
Scrutiny of nominations - October 28 (Phase 1) and October 30 (Phase 2)
Last date of withdrawal of candidature - October 30 (Phase 1) and November 1 (Phase 2)
Phase 1 poll date - November 13
Phase 2 poll date - November 20
Date of counting of votes - November 23
