Ranchi, Dec 23 (IANS): The counting of votes for the 81-member Jharkhand Assembly began on Monday.

Counting of votes, which started at 8 a.m., was taking place in all the 24 district headquarters.

The results will emerge by afternoon.

The elections took place in five phases from November 30 to December 20.

The maximum rounds of counting will take place at Chatra with 28 rounds and the lowest will be two rounds in Chandankiyari and Taropa assembly seats.

The main contest is between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress-Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM)-Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) alliance.

All eyes will remain on the Jamshedpur East seat. Chief Minister Raghuvar Das has been winning from here since 1995. His ex-cabinet colleague Saryu Rai is in the fray against him.

Rai revolted after he did not get the ticket from the party (BJP) and decided to fight against the Chief Minister.

Other important seats are Dumka and Barrett, from where JMM executive president and former Chief Minister Hemant Soren is contesting. He is pitted against Social Welfare Minister Luis Marandi.

The BJP ran the government in alliance with the All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU). However, the two contested the 2019 Jharkhand Assembly elections separately.