RANCHI: The Election Commission on Tuesday announced Assembly Elections in Jharkhand in two phases. The first phase will take place on November 13 and the second phase will be held on November 20. The counting of votes will take place on November 23.
To form the government in Jharkhand, one needs 41 seats out of the total strength of the 81-member Jharkhand Assembly.
Meanwhile, minutes before the announcement of Assembly polls by the Chief Election Commission of India, Varun Ranjan was made the new Deputy Commissioner of Ranchi. The order was passed in the light of ECI’s direction to take action against IAS officer Manjunath Bhajantri, terming his appointment as DC and DEO of Ranchi a violation of the Jharkhand High Court's decision.
Writing a letter, dated September 30 to the Chief Secretary of Jharkhand, L. Khiangte, the ECI had asked the State government to comply with its orders of December 6, 2021, and submit an action report to the Commission within 15 days.
Notably, on December 6, 2021, the Election Commission issued an order directing the state government to remove the then Deoghar Deputy Commissioner, Manjunath Bhajantri, from the post and initiate departmental action against him. It also directed that Bhajantri should not be deputed to any post related to election work without the permission of the Commission.
The ECI, in its letter, stated that Bhajantri was removed from the post of Deputy Commissioner on April 26, 2021, as he presented different figures in the Commission's Voter Turnout App and press conference during the Madhupur bye-election. However, after the election code of conduct ended, the government ordered him to be re-appointed as the Deputy Commissioner of Deoghar.
About six months after this case, the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Jharkhand sent a report to the Commission, informing them that the Deputy Commissioner had registered an FIR against BJP MP from Godda, Nishikant Dubey, for violating the code of conduct after the elections concluded. The election commission said that Bhajantri’s actions were “malafide” and his response to the show cause notice issued to him was “unsatisfactory”.
The Commission then ordered his removal from the post on December 6, 2021 from immediate effect, and instructed that he should not be assigned to election-related work in the future without the Commission's permission and also initiate disciplinary proceedings against him.
Still, the government did not remove Manjunath from the post. The matter was taken to the Jharkhand High Court, which upheld the order of the Election Commission in a decision passed on September 30, 2024.
Validating the ECI's order of 2021, the High Court stated that such recommendations of the ECI are mandatorily binding on the State government and that the Commission's powers are part of the larger constitutional scheme in federal settings. A few days ago, Manjunath Bhajantri was made the DC of Ranchi by removing Rahul Sinha. But again on Tuesday, he was removed and Varun Ranjan has been made the DC of Ranchi.