Jharkhand Assembly Elections 2024: A Look Back at Congress's 2019 Performance

The last assembly elections in Jharkhand took place in 2019, spanning from November 30 to December 20, to elect the 81 members of the 5th Jharkhand Legislative Assembly. The results were announced on December 23, 2019.

In a strategic move to unseat the incumbent BJP government, Congress formed a pre-poll alliance with the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). This coalition contested 75 constituencies-Congress fielding candidates in 31, JMM in 43, and RJD in 7.

Once the dust settled, the Congress-JMM-RJD alliance emerged as the clear winner, securing 47 of the 81 seats in the assembly. Meanwhile, the BJP and other parties, including independents, claimed a total of 34 seats.

The detailed breakdown revealed that the Indian National Congress secured 16 seats, the JMM won 30, while the RJD obtained 1 seat. The Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (JVM) captured 3 seats, the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation won 1 seat, the Nationalist Congress Party gained 1 seat, and independents secured 2 seats. The BJP contested 79 seats and managed to win 25, with the All Jharkhand Students Union taking 2 seats.

Following the elections, the JMM formed the government with the support of Congress, leading to Hemant Soren, the JMM chief, becoming the Chief Minister of Jharkhand. Additionally, Babulal Marandi, chief of the JVM(P) and former Chief Minister of Jharkhand, extended his party's support to the Congress-JMM-RJD alliance, further solidifying their majority in the assembly. On December 24, 2019, Hemant Soren and his alliance partners met Governor Draupadi Murmu to formally stake their claim to form the government.