EC to announce Jharkhand poll schedule Friday afternoon

With the tenure of the Jharkhand Legislative Assembly ending on December 27, the Election Commission of India (ECI) is set to announce the election schedule for the state on Friday afternoon.

The election comes at a time when the Haryana and Maharashtra elections have not yielded results as per the expectations of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

In Haryana, Manohar Lal Khattar-led BJP fell short of the majority mark and had to seek Jannayak Janata Party (JJP)'s support to form the government.

In Maharashtra, the BJP is engaged in a power tussle with its ally Shiv Sena over government formation. The BJP is significantly short of being able to form the government in Maharashtra on its own.

In Jharkhand, Chief Minister Raghubar Das-led BJP is hoping to retain power in the state.

In 2014, while the BJP won 37 seats, its ally All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) won five.

The combined tally was enough for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) to cross the majority mark of 41 in the 81-member Assembly.IANS