JMM-Congress crosses majority mark in Jharkhand election leads

The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and Congress alliance has crossed the majority mark, shooting ahead of the ruling BJP -- 43 seats to 27 -- as votes for the Jharkhand election are being counted. 

41 is the majority mark in the 81-seat house. 

Though exit polls do not always get it right, at least three exit polls have predicted a victory for the Congress-JMM-Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) alliance. 

For the BJP, the results will be crucial. The party lost Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh to Congress last year. 

This year, after its huge victory in the Lok Sabha election, Maharashtra slipped out of its grasp as it fell out with ally Shiv Sena over power sharing. 

Elections were conducted for Jharkhand in five phases from November 30 to December 20. In the Lok Sabha elections held earlier this year, BJP had won 11 of 14 seats in the state.