The parliamentary board of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is scheduled to meet tomorrow to decide who will lead its government in Jharkhand as trends on Tuesday suggested that the party is all set to win a big mandate in the JMM-ruled tribal state.
The member of the BJP parliamentary board will meet on Wednesday to select the chief ministerial candidate for Jharkhand and also chalk out a strategy for Jammu and Kashmir where no party appears to be getting a clear mandate.
Confirming the development, senior BJP leader Dharmendra Pradhan said, “Party’s Parliamentary Board and MLAs will decide tomorrow (Wednesday) who will be the leader of the government in Jharkhand.”
As the counting of votes began this morning, the BJP looked set for major gains in Jharkhand with its candidates ahead in a whopping 53 of the 81 seats, as per the early trends.
Election Commission sources indicated a BJP sweep, with the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leading only in 11 constituencies, the Congress in four and two other parties in six places.
Almost all the exit polls after the five-phase election had predicted a BJP win in Jharkhand.
Chief Minister Hemant Soren was leading from both the seats he contested. Former chief minister Madhu Koda, accused of corruption, was trailing, till the last reports came.
Another former chief Minister, Babulal Marandi, was leading in Dhanwar but trailing in Giridih.
A total of 1,136 candidates fought the election.
