Under section 26 of the Jharkhand Municipal Act, 2011, the positions of mayor and deputy mayor are elected directly i.e. the position holders are voted in by the people themselves. The last municipal election was in 2018 with a voter turnout of 49.3%, up from 38% in the last election in 2013. Asha Lakra and Vijayawargia – both from the Bharatiya Janta Party – won the mayoral and deputy mayoral seats. The 2018 municipal election was the first time the mayoral and deputy mayoral candidates in Jharkhand could use political party symbols, while the candidates for councilor seats continued to use symbols allotted to them by the Jharkhand State Election Commission. The next municipal election will take place in 2023.