By-elections will be held on 31 assembly seats across 10 states and the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat of Kerala. Four of the assembly seats are reserved for Scheduled Castes and six for Scheduled Tribes.
Elections will be held on seven seats in Rajasthan, six seats in West Bengal, five in Assam, four in Bihar, three in Kerala, two seats in Madhya Pradesh and one in Meghalaya, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh and Karnataka.
In two seats of Sikkim, candidates of Sikkim Krantikari Morcha were declared unopposed winners on October 30.
For this phase In Jharkhand, the ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha has fielded 23 candidates, its allies Congress 17 and Lalu Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal five. The Opposition BJP has fielded 36 candidates,, Janata Dal United (JDU) two and Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party seven candidates.
Key candidates today include former Chief Minister  Champai Soren and his son Babulal Soren, former Chief Minister Arjun Munda’s wife Meera Munda, Madhu Koda’s wife Geeta Koda and Raghuvar Das’s daughter-in-law Purnima Sahu.
The JMM-led coalition is hoping for a second term riding on its welfare schemes including Maiyan Samman Yojana. The NDA has promised a stop to infiltration and corruption by the Grand ALliance government, pointing to the arrest of Chief Minister Hemant Soren in a corruption case.
The BJP’s key promises include “driving out infiltrators”, implementing Uniform Civil Code (UCC), Rs 2,100 per month to every woman and 5 lakh employment opportunities for the youth.
The NDA had carried out its customary high-voltage star-studded campaign led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, BJP chief JP Nadda, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and his Assam counterpart Himanta Biswa Sarma held a number of rallies.
In 2019, the JMM had won 30 seats and the BJP managed 25, down from 37 in 2014. The JMM-Congress-RJD alliance won a comfortable majority with 47 seats.
The second phase of elections will be held on November 20 while the votes will be counted on November 23.

Voting for the Jharkhand assembly elections phase 1 is being held today with 43 of the state’s 81 seats up for grabs. Polling began at 7 am in 15 districts and will continue till 5 pm.

While the ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) has fielded 23 candidates, its allies Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) have put forward 17 and 5 candidates, respectively.

The Opposition BJP has fielded 36 candidates, while the Janata Dal United (JDU) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) have nominated 2 and 7 candidates, respectively.

The second phase of elections will be held on November 20 while the votes will be counted on November 23.

By-elections are also being held today on 31 assembly seats across 10 states and the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat of Kerala.

Here Are Live Updates On Jharkhand Assembly Elections 2024:

US President-elect Donald Trump announced that Elon Musk will lead the ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ – a position Trump hinted at during his campaign trail. Musk will head the department alongside Indian-American entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.

“Together, these two wonderful Americans will pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies – Essential to the ‘Save America’ Movement,” Trump said in a statement.

“I look forward to Elon and Vivek making changes to the Federal Bureaucracy with an eye on efficiency and, at the same time, making life better for all Americans,” he added.

According to Trump, they will drive out the “massive waste and fraud” from the government.

Donald Trump won the presidential elections last week, defeating Democratic rival Kamala Harris by 69 electoral votes.

During his victory speech, Trump praised Musk and described him as an “amazing and super genius guy”. He also mentioned that the billionaire spent two weeks in Philadelphia and Pennsylvania campaigning with him.

“We have a new star, a star is born: Elon. He’s an amazing guy. We were sitting together tonight. You know, he spent two weeks in Philadelphia, in different parts of Pennsylvania, campaigning,” Trump told his supporters.

Musk, who has been a staunch supporter of Trump, was a key part of the Republican’s Presidential campaign. The Tesla CEO donated over 100 million dollars to Trump’s re-election battle and campaigned aggressively using his social media platform X (formerly Twitter).

On November 9, Trump made it even more evident that Musk would be a part of his administration after he reportedly asked him to join a call with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky. According to a Ukrainian official, Zelensky thanked Musk for the Starlinks and they talked briefly, however, the main conversation was with Trump, reported news agency AFP.