"I thank the people of Jharkhand for having given @BJP4India the opportunity to serve the state for many years. I also applaud the hardworking party karyakartas for their efforts. We will continue serving the state and raising people-centric issues in the times to come," Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted.

As the alliance established early lead over the BJP on Monday, JMM's Hemant Soren, the face of the alliance and its Chief Ministerial candidate, visited his father Shibu Soren to seek his blessings. Shibu Soren was one of the key figures in the statehood movement and a three-time Chief Minister of the state.

"The people of Jharkhand have given us mandate and I thank them for that... Today, a new chapter will begin for the state, and the chapter will prove to be a milestone... Today, the time has arrived to fulfill what Jharkhand was created for," Hemant Soren told reporters on Monday evening.

Hemant Soren had earlier served as the Chief Minister between 2013 and 2014.This time, he contested from two seats -- Dumka and Barhet -- and won both. BJP had pitted state minister Louis Marandi in Dumka against Mr Soren.

Former Chief Minister Raghubar Das, who contested from Jamshedpur East, lost to his ex-cabinet colleague and party rebel Saryu Rai, who contested as an independent.

As the trends became clear, Raghubar Das took responsibility for the defeat, saying, "It was my defeat, not the BJP's".

The BJP found that its biggest losses are going to be in the tribal belt. The party could win just two out of 28 seats reserved for Scheduled tribes. Several leaders admitted in private that the it was not just the anger of tribal voters but also the arrogant attitude of Raghubar Das which had alienated its partymen that was responsible for the poor results.

In the 2014 state elections, the BJP had won 37 seats while the All Jharkhand Students' Union won five. The Congress was reduced to just six seats.

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