Jharkhand Assembly Elections

CPI's D Raja accuses BJP of poaching leaders ahead of Jharkhand polls

CPI general secretary D Raja on Saturday accused the BJP of poaching leaders from other parties and raking up issues like infiltration to polarise people ahead of the assembly polls in Jharkhand. Raja arrived in Jharkhand earlier in the day to discuss the party's strategy for the assembly elections in the eastern state later this year. The BJP and its conservative allies are targeting ruling parties in Jharkhand. In order to cripple functioning, they poach leaders from ruling parties if possible. This is happening in Jharkhand, he told reporters here. On the issue of infiltration, if they are serious about it, the Union home minister should give an explanation to the country. Instead, they are targeting some states in order to create confusion and conflict among communities, Raja alleged. The saffron party has been making allegations of increased infiltration in Jharkhand, especially in the Santhal Parganas. The senior CPI leader also claimed that the BJP would face defeat in the

BJP counts on a Soren to woo tribal votes in Jharkhand Assembly polls

As Champai Soren's switching sides gives BJP leaders renewed hope ahead of Assembly polls, ruling party claims it will only consolidate Hemant's tribal support base, reports Aditi Phadnis

Former Jharkhand CM Champai Soren joins BJP days after quitting JMM

Champai Soren joined the saffron camp during a ceremony in Ranchi, with Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma in attendance

Won't quit politics, open to floating new outfit, says Champai Soren

Former Jharkhand chief minister Champai Soren said he would not quit politics, asserting that an option to float a new political outfit was always open to him. Soren said he was firm on his plans after "facing humiliation at the hands of leaders of JMM", a party to which the veteran leader claimed that he devoted his entire life. "It is a new chapter of my life. I won't quit politics as I have received lots of love and support from my followers. The chapter has closed, I may form a new outfit," the senior Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader said shortly after he reached his ancestral village Jhilingora in Seraikela-Kharsawan district post midnight on Tuesday. The 67-year-old tribal leader has earned the nickname "Jharkhand's Tiger" for his contribution to the fight to create a separate state in the 1990s. Jharkhand was carved out of the southern part of Bihar in 2000. "No one from JMM contacted me. This is the land of Jharkhand...I have struggled since my student life. I participa

Assam CM accuses JMM-led alliance govt of doing 'appeasement' politics

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday accused the JMM-led alliance government in Jharkhand of doing politics of "appeasement" in the state. Sarma, election co-incharge of BJP in Jharkhand, on Saturday, visited Bengabad in Giridih district to meet the kins of Havaldar Chouhan Hembram, who was killed by a convicted prisoner in a Hazaribag hospital on August 12. "No legislator either from JMM or Congress met the tribal victim family yet," Sarma said after meeting the mother of Hembram. Prisoner Shahid Ansari, serving a life sentence, escaped from Sheikh Bhikhari Medical College and Hospital (SBMCH) in Jharkhand's Hazaribag district after hitting Hembram with a rod and strangulating him to death with a saline pipe. The accused was undergoing treatment in the hospital. The Assam CM alleged that the administration took no action to nab the absconding prisoner. Sarma said that when he came to know about the incident, he decided to meet the family with Jharkhand BJP chief .

Cong appoints Karra as J&K unit chief, Keshav Mahto to lead Jharkhand unit

In a significant organisational reshuffle ahead of the assembly polls, the Congress on Friday appointed Tariq Hameed Karra as president of its Jammu and Kashmir unit and Keshav Mahto Kamlesh as chief of the Jharkhand Pradesh Congress Committee. While Karra replaces Vikar Rasool Wani in Jammu and Kashmir, Kamlesh takes over from Rajesh Thakur. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge also appointed two working presidents for Jammu and Kashmir -- Tara Chand and Raman Bhalla -- as the party gets battle ready for assembly polls in the Union Territory, the dates of which were announced by the Election Commission on Friday. Kharge has also appointed Wani as a special invitee to the Congress Working Committee (CWC) with immediate effect. Karra has been relieved from his current position as permanent invitee to the CWC, the party said in a statement. "The party appreciates the contributions of the outgoing Pradesh Congress Committee president Vikar Rasool Wani," the statement said. In Jharkh

Bihar CM Nitish Kumar chairs JD(U) meeting, discusses Jharkhand polls

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JD(U) on Saturday said that it wanted to contest the assembly elections in neighbouring Jharkhand in alliance with the BJP. Kumar chaired a meeting of his party at his official residence and it was attended by JD(U) working president Sanjay Kumar Jha, who is in charge of Jharkhand, Bihar minister Ashok Choudhary and Rajya Sabha MP Khiru Mahto, who heads the JD(U)'s unit in the adjoining state, among others. After the meeting, Mahto told reporters, "We are looking forward to contesting the Jharkhand assembly polls in alliance with the BJP." "Among the issues discussed with the party's supreme leader was the inclusion of Kurmis in the list of Scheduled Tribes. Kurmi leaders in Jharkhand have been raising the demand for some time and today it was seconded by delegates from West Bengal. We will now move forward by raising the issue in Parliament and before President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah," he ..

86% of Jharkhand's paddy cultivation land unused due to scanty rainfall

Around 86 per cent of Jharkhand's arable land, meant for paddy sowing, is still lying fallow due to scanty rainfall, officials said. Paddy sowing has not yet taken off in four out of 24 districts even though the peak period of sowing ends next week, according to agricultural experts. Jharkhand has registered a 47 per rainfall deficit till July 26, officials said. Farmers are worried over the condition and they speculate the state might face drought-like situations for the third consecutive term. In 2023, 158 blocks in 17 districts were declared drought-hit by the state government, and in 2022, it was 226 blocks. Paddy crop was sown in only 2.43 lakh hectares against the target of 18 lakh hectares till July 26 or only in 13.53 per cent of the arable land, according to the sowing report of state agriculture department. Paddy sowing could not be started in Palamu, Latehar, Chatra and Deoghar districts. The situation of overall kharif crops, which includes maize, pulses, oilseeds an

Will Congress tie up with AAP for Delhi polls? Jairam Ramesh answers

Jharkhand, Haryana, and Maharashtra are slated to go to the polls later this year, while Assembly elections in Delhi will be held early next year

EC begins J&K Assembly polls prep, electoral roll expected by Aug 20

State and UT Assembly elections will be conducted in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), Haryana, Jharkhand, and Maharashtra, along with 47 by-polls

LS polls 2024 phase 5: Nearly 42% voter turnout in Jharkhand till 1 pm

Polling for three Lok Sabha seats in Jharkhand began on Monday morning, marking the second phase of elections in the state and fifth nationally, officials said. Voting began at 7 am in Chatra, Koderma and Hazaribag seats, and will continue till 5 pm. In this phase, 22 candidates are contesting from Chatra, 15 from Koderma, and 17 from Hazaribag. Approximately 58.34 lakh voters, including 28.35 lakh women, are eligible to exercise their franchise in these three constituencies. Voting also began for the Gandey assembly by-poll in the state. Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) K Ravi Kumar said this phase covers seven districts across three parliamentary constituencies, with polling materials and parties dispatched to 65 interior booths via choppers. Kumar noted that there are a total of 6,705 booths, including 6,130 in rural areas, with 73 booths managed by women, 13 by persons with disabilities, and 13 by youths. In Chatra parliamentary constituency, there are 16.89 lakh voters, includ

Jharkhand HC quashes Hemant Soren's writ petition challenging ED arrest

The Jharkhand High Court on Friday dismissed jailed former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren's writ petition challenging his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and denied bail to him. The court, however, allowed him to attend his uncle's last rites on May 6 under police custody. Soren, through the petition earlier, had challenged his arrest by the ED. The court had kept the order reserved in the case on February 28. The court of Justice Rongon Mukhopadhyay has directed that he (Soren) can attend the last rites of his uncle in police custody. Soren was arrested by the ED on January 31 in connection with a money laundering case linked to an alleged land scam. He is at present in judicial custody and lodged at the Birsa Munda Central Jail in Ranchi. Soren was sent to the Birsa Munda Central Jail on February 15 after his 13-day custody of the ED.

After ED raids, J'khand Cong MLA claims ignoring BJP's offer of LS ticket

The raids were conducted in connection with a complaint of money laundering filed in 2023 against the Congress MLA at the Ranchi zonal office of the central enforcement agency

Highlights: PM to launch BJP's campaign for LS from MP's Jhabua on Feb 11

News updates: From CM Champai Soren's floor test in Jharkhand assembly to Iran leveraging UK bank account to covertly move money, catch all the latest updates from around the world here

Next hearing on Hemant Soren's petition against ED action on Feb 12

A special PMLA court here will hear a petition by arrested ex-Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren against the ED action on February 12, his counsel Advocate General Rajeev Ranjan said on Monday. Soren was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate last week in a money laundering case. "The next hearing on Hemant Soren's petition against the ED action on February 12," the advocate general said. The special court has allowed Soren to participate in the trust vote in the state assembly on Monday.

Proud to be a tribal, says newly sworn-in Jharkhand CM Champai Soren

Jharkhand Chief Minister Champai Soren on Saturday said that he is proud to be hailing from a tribal community

Ruling alliance led by CM Champai Soren to face floor test on Feb 5

Alongside Soren, Congress' Alamgir Alam and RJD's Satyanand Bhokta also took the oath as ministers in the Jharkhand cabinet

BJP tried to 'steal popular mandate' in J'khand but was stopped: Rahul

The BJP tried to destabilise the Jharkhand government elected by the people but the INDIA bloc stood up against its "conspiracy" and did not let it "steal the popular mandate", Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on Friday as his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra entered the eastern state. Gandhi was accorded a warm welcome here with newly appointed Chief Minister Champai Soren also present on the occasion. Addressing the gathering, Gandhi alleged the BJP has "money power and probe agencies" but he and the Congress are not scared of them and will keep on fighting against the ruling party's "divisive ideology". The former Congress president said that while the earlier Bharat Jodo Yatra was against the "divisive agenda" of the RSS and the BJP, the current yatra is seeking justice for the people of the country. The BJP once again tried to steal and destabilise a government which had been elected by the people of Jharkhand, Gandhi said. The Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA)

Champai Soren: From humble farm worker to Jharkhand's Chief Minister

Champai Soren, who once tilled fields with his father in a remote village in Jharkhand's Seraikela-Kharsawan district, has ascended to the chair of the state's chief minister. The 67-year-old tribal leader has earned the sobriquet "Jharkhand's Tiger" for his contribution to the long fight for the creation of a separate state in the 1990s. Jharkhand was created from the southern part of Bihar in 2000. A loyalist of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha president Shibu Soren, Champai became the leader of the JMM legislative party after Hemant Soren's resignation as the chief minister by the ED in a money laundering case and his subsequent arrest on the night of January 31. He is the seventh person to become Jharkhand's chief minister and the third from the JMM to reach that post after Shibu Soren and his son Hemant. "I used to work in farms along with my father (Simal Soren)... Now fate has offered me a different role," Champai Soren told PTI after being elected as the leader of the JMM legislative

JMM's Champai Soren to take oath as Jharkhand chief minister today

JMM legislative party leader Champai Soren will take oath as the Jharkhand chief minister on Friday after Governor C P Radhakrishnan nominated him for the post, officials said. The oath-taking ceremony will be held around 12.15 pm at the Durbar Hall of the Raj Bhavan here, they said. Champai Soren was nominated for the chief minister's post on Thursday after he urged the governor to accept his claim to form the government at the earliest as there was "confusion" in the state which was without a chief minister since the resignation of Hemant Soren on Wednesday, deepening the political crisis. Champai Soren has been given 10 days to prove his government's majority, said state Congress chief Rajesh Thakur whose party is a constituent of the alliance. "We stand united. Our alliance is very strong. No one can break it," Champai Soren had said. Notably, JMM executive president Hemant Soren was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday in a money laundering case linked to an .