Jharkhand Civic Polls 2026: BJP Wins Ranchi Mayor Post, Congress Takes Mango

BJP-backed Roshni Khalkho won the mayoral election in Ranchi Municipal Corporation on Saturday, defeating her Congress-supported rival by a margin of over 14,000 votes, as results from Jharkhand's urban local body polls continued to emerge.

Khalkho secured 1,57,669 votes against Rama Khalkho's 1,43,306, according to an official. "I thank the people of Ranchi for their love and support. I will leave no stone unturned for the city's development," Roshni told reporters after the result was announced. She described it as a significant victory and noted that although the election was not fought on party symbols, BJP leaders and workers had worked consistently to secure her win. A total of 11 candidates contested the post, and results for all 53 ward councillors were also declared.

In Mango Municipal Corporation in Jamshedpur, Congress-supported Sudha Gupta, wife of former Jharkhand health minister Banna Gupta, defeated BJP-backed Sandhya Singh by 18,602 votes, PTI reported.

Counting of votes for elections to 48 urban local bodies (ULBs), which began on Friday morning, produced several other outcomes. In Hazaribag Municipal Corporation, journalist Arvind Rana won the mayoral post, defeating Congress-backed Sarfaraz by 4,657 votes.

According to PTI, in Adityapur, BJP-supported Sanjay Sardar defeated JMM-backed Bhuglu Soren by 7,795 votes to become mayor. In Medininagar (Palamu district), BJP-backed Aruna Shankar won a second consecutive term, polling 24,169 votes to defeat Congress-supported Namrata Tripathi (21,047 votes). JMM-backed Poonam Singh came third with 12,809 votes.

In Giridih Municipal Corporation, JMM-supported Pramila Mehra secured 38,091 votes to defeat BJP-backed Dr Shailendra Kumar Chaudhary (23,482 votes) by 14,599 votes. In Deoghar Municipal Corporation, JMM-supported Ravi Raut won with 24,719 votes, beating Rita Chaurasia by 5,148 votes (Chaurasia polled 19,571).

In Dhanbad, rebel BJP candidate Sanjeev Singh was leading JMM-backed Chandrashekhar Agarwal after the second round of counting.

State Election Commission Secretary Radhe Shyam Prasad said ballot papers were segregated at the start of counting, with white used for councillors and pink for mayors or chairpersons. Although the civic polls were not held on party symbols, candidates received backing from political parties.

The elections took place on February 23 across nine municipal corporations, 20 nagar parishads, and 19 nagar panchayats, covering posts of mayor or chairperson in 48 ULBs and councillors in 1,042 wards. PTI reported that turnout exceeded 63 per cent among the roughly 43 lakh eligible voters.

A total of 562 candidates, including 235 women, contested the mayor and chairperson posts, while 5,562 aspirants, including 2,727 women, stood for ward councillor seats. Elections were held in 1,042 wards as 41 councillors were elected unopposed, three wards received no nominations, and polling in one ward of Mango Municipal Corporation was countermanded due to a candidate's death.

BJP supporters celebrated following announcements of several results.

(With inputs from PTI)