Ranchi, Dec 23 (IANS): With the counting of votes taking place for the 81-member Assembly in Jharkhand, all eyes are set on the Jamshedpur (East) constituency from where Chief Minister and BJP leader Raghubar Das is contesting against his own party rebel Saryu Rai.
No Chief Minister in this eastern coalfield state has ever won consecutive polls since the state was carved out of Bihar in 2000.
Das has been winning the Jamshedpur East seat for the last five times since 1995 and is looking for a double hat trick in the 2019 Assembly polls.
According to the early trends, Das is leading from his Jamshedpur (East) Assembly seat. He is contesting against his own party former colleague and rebel Rai, who raised important issues, causing a stir.
The Congress has fielded Professor Gourav Vallabh, a known orator. Rai contested against Das after he was dropped as party's candidate from Jamshedpur (West) Assembly seat.