Khunti: Sitting BJP MP and Union Minister Arjun Munda has been defeated from Khunti Lok Sabha constituency by a margin of over 1.4 lakh votes. Congress's Kali Charan Munda has secured 5,11,647 votes while Arjun Munda managed 3,61,972 votes.
Congress and JMM workers were seen celebrating on the streets of Khunti by bursting firecrackers as news of Kali Charan Munda taking lead, spread.
Counting in Khunti Lok Sabha seat, which is one of the 14 parliamentary seats in Jharkhand, comprising six assembly segments--Kharsawan, Tamar, Torpa, Khunti, Simdega, and Kolebira began this morning.
The seat, which was once a Congress stronghold, has emerged as a BJP bastion in recent years with the saffron party winning eight of the last 10 elections. The seat, reserved for Scheduled Tribe in 2024 is expected to witness a direct contest between sitting MP and Union Minister Arjun Munda and Congress leader Kali Charan Munda given the slender margin the former won against the latter in the last general election.
2024 Polls: The Khunti Lok Sabha seat saw a voting turnout of 66.26 %, according to the Election Commission’s data. The seat went to polls in phase 4 on May 13, 2024.
In the 2019 Polls, Arjun Munda had secured 382638 votes while first runner up followed closely by securing 381193 votes with Arjun Munda winning by a slender margin of just 1445 votes. In the 2014 general election, Karia Munda of the BJP won by nearly one lakh votes by securing 269185 votes while JKP's Anosh Ekka polled 176937 votes.
