Jharkhand assembly election: Exit polls predict slight edge for Congress-JMM alliance in close fight

Most exit polls in Jharkhand where polling for the state assembly elections ended today gave a slight edge to the JMM-Congress-RJD alliance in what looks like a close race.

The India Today-Axis exit poll predicted the ruling BJP to end with 22-32 seats, the JMM-Congress alliance 38-50 seats, the AJSU 3-5 seats, JVM 2-4 and others 4-7.

If the Congress-JMM alliance led by Heman Soren ends up on the higher range of that prediction, it would mean they would comfortably cross the majority in the 81-seat Assembly and form the next government. The lower range for them would see a hung house, with the BJP led by chief minister Raghubar Das in with a chance of coming to power again.


The IANS-CVoter-ABP Exit Polls predicted a hung Assembly like last time with JVM's Babulal Marandi and AJSU's Sudesh Mahto ending up as kingmakers.

As per the exit poll, the Bharatiya Janata Party can expect to win between 28 and 36 seats, which is less than its 2014 tally of 37 seats. The opposition Jharkhand Mukti Morcha-Congress-Rashtriya Janata Dal combine was expected to win around between 31 and 39 seats.

The poll predicts that the situation looks favourable for marginal players like the AJSU and JVM which can look forward to calling the shots in the event of both major players falling short by 10 seats.

The Times Now exit poll predicted 41 seats for the JMM-Congress alliance, 29 for the BJP, 3 for JVM and the rest for others.

The five-phase Jharkhand Assembly elections concluded today and votes will be counted on December 23.