Ranchi, December 23: Incumbent Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das has conceded defeat after results of assembly elections pointed towards a victory for the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and its allies including the Congress. Calling the drubbing of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) his personal defeat, Raghubar Das said that he wasn't waiting for a miracle to happen as the JMM-Congress-RJD combine looked set for a victory in Jharkhand polls. Hemant Soren to be Jharkhand Chief Minister? Know All About JMM Chief.
"I tried to serve my best in the last five years and can’t say anything before the results are out...But we are not waiting for any miracle to happen," Das told reporters. Asked whether he considers the results of the elections as a defeat for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Das responded: "I can call it as my defeat." Earlier today when early trends showed neck and neck fight between the BJP and JMM-Congress-RJD combine, he said that he would retain power.
"I'm sure that we are winning and the government will be formed under the leadership of BJP," Das, who was trailing from his Jamshedpur East seat, had said. Das has been winning the seat since 1995. As per the Election Commission, the BJP was leading on 29 seats while the Grand Alliance comprising the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) was leading on 42 out of 81 assembly seats in Jharkhand.
The BJP's former alliance partner All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) was leading on three and the Babulal Marandi-led Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) was leading on three seats. Jharkhand voted in five phases beginning November 30 to December 20.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 23, 2019 04:45 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).