Campaigning ends for 1st phase of Jharkhand polls

Modi asks BJP workers to stay united; Kharge seeks vote to 'save Constitution'

- ARCHIS MOHAN

Campaigning for the 43 seats scheduled to go to polls in the first phase of Jharkhand Assembly elections ended on Monday.

There are 81 Assembly seats in total. Of the 28 seats reserved for Scheduled Tribes (STs), 19 will vote on Wednesday, including Saraikella, which former chief minister Champai Soren has represented successively since 2005 as a Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) candidate.

For the 2024 Assembly polls, Champai is contesting as Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate from the seat and carries the weight of BJP's hopes of improving its performance in the ST constituencies.

Five years ago, the BJP could win only two of the 28 ST reserved seats, both of which, Torpa and Khunti, will poll in the first phase.

The BJP had won 25 seats in total, including 13 that will vote in the first phase.