Jharkhand CM, Speaker trailing in assembly vote count

Ranchi, Dec 23 (IANS) Incumbent Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das has been facing a tough fight against his former cabinet colleague and Independent candidate Saryu Roy in the Jamshedpur East constituency.

Das is trailing by over 4,000 votes from his nearest rival Roy. He has been winning this seat since 1995.

Das, a non-tribal leader of a tribal-dominated state, is leading the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s campaign to retain power in Jharkhand.

Saryu Roy, however, is giving him a tough fight in this seat and has actually edged past Das by a margin of over 4,000 votes. Of the total 53,144 votes counted so far, Das and Roy managed to get 18,874 and 23,517 votes, respectively.

Jamshedpur East is a key constituency in the 81-member Assembly polling for which was held in five phases from November 30 to December 20.

Jharkahnd assembly Speaker Dinesh Oraon is trailing in Sisai assembly seat over 14,000 votes. Oraon has secured 28,403 votes and his rival JMM candiate Jiga Susaran Horo has got 49,024 votes. State Labour Minister Raj Paliwar is trailing over 10,000 votes in the Madhupur seat.

The counting of votes began at 8 a.m. on Monday. The ‘Steel City’ Jamshedpur constituency covers one of the two parts of Jamshedpur, a planned industrial town established by Tata Group’s founder Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata.

The town’s economy largely runs on the steel plant and allied activities.

Jharkhand’s only Chief Minister to complete a five-year tenure, Das is fighting to retain a seat he has held since the state’s first election in 2005 after it was carved out of Bihar in the year 2000.