Elections 2014: Jharkhand — State Profile

Tarun Khanna

Jharkhand, which was formed from Bihar in 2000 and is the 28th state of India, has 14 Lok Sabha constituencies wherein 5 constituencies are reserved for Scheduled Tribes (ST) and one is reserved for Scheduled Caste (SC)

Jharkand elections witness the participation of many national, state and registered political parties. INC, BJP, RJD and CPI are the major national players in the state while Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) is the largest of the state level political parties followed by Jharkhand Vikas Morcha.

In the 2009 General Elections, BJP had won 7 seats while JMM and JVM won 2 seats each. INC, on the other hand, could win only one seat. The rest 2 seats went to the independent candidates.

In 2009 Assembly elections, out of 81 seats, BJP and JMM won 18 seats each, INC won 13, JVM won 11, RJD won 5, JDU won 2 and 14 went to others.

The Assembly was under suspension after imposition of President Rule on January 18, 2013 till July 12, 20013. The Union Cabinet had recommended imposition of President`s rule when chief minister Arjun Munda resigned after his government was reduced to a minority. The state has seen nine governments in the past 13 years

Hemant Soren became the 5th Chief Minister of Jharkhand on July 13, 2013 with the support from the Congress and the RJD.

2014 General Elections in the state are scheduled to be held on April 10, April 17 and April 24.