Ranchi, December 23: Baidyanath Ram of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) won the Latehar Vidhan Sabha constituency. Ram defeated his nearest rival Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Prakash Ram by a margin of 16,328. Baidyanath received 75,893, while the BJP candidate got 59,909 votes. Independent candidate Santosh Kumar Paswan came at the third spot. The counting of votes began on December 23 at 8 am. In 2014, Prakash had won the seat on the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) ticket.

The Latehar Vidhan Sabha constituency falls in the Latehar district of Jharkhand. Voting in Latehar for the Jharkhand Assembly Elections 2019 took place in the first phase on November 30. The constituency is reserved for scheduled caste category. The Election Commission of India (ECI) on November 2 announced the election schedule for Jharkhand. There were 2.26 crore registered voters in the state. Polling for the 81-member Jharkhand assembly took place in five phases on November 30, December 7, 12, 16, 20. The term of the Jharkhand Assembly is ending on January 5, 2020. Jharkhand Assembly Election 2019 Dates: Know Phase-Wise And Constituency-Wise Schedule For Vidhan Sabha Polls.

The EC has taken the decision to conduct Vidhan Sabha polls in five phases due to security reasons. Adequate security personnel were deployed in the state to free and fair elections. Jharkhand Assembly Elections 2019 Dates to be Announced Today: Know Past Poll Schedule, Results And How BJP, JMM, Congress Fared.

The BJP contested the Jharkhand Assembly elections without any alliance. Meanwhile, the congress contested the elections in alliance with RJD and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM). In the 2014 elections, the BJP had won 37 seats, while its ally All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) clinched five. Congress and JMM won seven and 19 seats respectively. Eight seats were won by the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik). However, six of their legislators joined the BJP in 2015.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 24, 2019 12:03 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).