2009 Jharkhand Legislative Assembly election
The Jharkhand 2009 Assembly elections were seen as a contest between three forces: The Indian National Congress (INC), The Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) and its major ally Janata Dal (United), and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM). The poll result was a shock for the incumbent BJP-JD(U) Alliance as they could muster only a quarter of the state assembly's 81 seats. The JMM emerged as a formidable force and finally turned out to be the kingmaker. The election turned out to be a stalemate as many expected because no major party or group was  able to come even close to the 42-seat majority. The JMM has always been an important factor in the state's political scenario even before the creation of the state. It then served as a rallying point for the people who demanded statehood for Jharkhand from Bihar. Government Formation. A compromise formula was worked out between the BJP-JD(U) Alliance and the JMM. These two groups, with the help of independents and other minor parties, had run the state government, and the president rules the state.