Ranchi, December 23: Potka, the scheduled tribe constituency based in East Singhbhum district of Jharkhand, featured in second of the five-phased assembly elections in Jharkhand. The seat went to polls on December 7, along with 19 other constituencies which will be contested in the second phase. Results of the elections were declared on December 23 by the Election Commission of India. Sanjib Sardar of the JMM was declared the winner from the assembly segment. Check Highlights of Jharkhand Assembly Election Results 2019.

The electoral battle is Potka (ST) seat was primarily between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Opposition alliance of Congress, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). In 2014, the seat was wrested Menaka Sardar of the BJP.

Menaka was retained as the BJP candidate from Potka for the current vidhan sabha elections. Among her most prominent challenger is Sanjib Sardar from the JMM. The Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (JVM) candidate from the seat was Naresh Kumar Murmu, whereas, the All Jharkhand Students' Union (AJSU) had fielded Bulu Rani Singh.

The elections in Jharkhand came less than two months after the states of Maharashtra and Haryana went to polls. The BJP, which was tipped to be ahead in the electoral race ahead of the polls, ended up losing power in Maharashtra and returning to power in Haryana with a weakened mandate.

In the 2014 assembly polls, the BJP succeeded in forming the first-ever government in Jharkhand. The party ended up winning 37 seats, five short of the halfway majority mark. The arty allies with AJSU, which had won five constituencies, to come to power. The JMM and Congress were reduced to 19 and six seats, respectively.

MLA CandidatesPartyVotes
Sunita MurmuIND915
Menka SardarBJP67643
Naresh Kumar MurmuJVM3891
Sirma DewgamIND1330
Sanjib Sardar (Current MLA)JMM110753
Bulu Rani SinghAJSU PartyNA
Ishwar SorenJD(U)NA
Jeetrai HansdaJharkhand People's PartyNA
Diku VesarSOCIALIST UNITY CENTRE OF INDIA (COMMUNIST)NA
Bir Singh DeogamRight to Recall PartyNA

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 23, 2019 05:19 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).