Over 62 per cent voter turnout was recorded on Thursday at the end of third-phase elections, in which 17 assembly seats of Jharkhand went to polls, officials said. Amid tight security, 62.60 per cent of 56,18,267 voters exercised their franchise in the 17 seats across eight districts, they said. Police said the polling, which began at 7 am, passed off peacefully.
A total of 309 candidates including 32 women are in the fray. The key candidates include three ministers — CP Singh, Ramchandra Sahis and Neera Yadav. Also, former chief minister Babulal Marandi and former deputy chief minister and All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) president Sudesh Mahto are in the fray in this phase. The assembly elections to the 81-member House began on November 30 and will end on December 20. Results will be declared on December 23. The tenure of Jharkhand Legislative Assembly expires on January 5 next year.
Former India cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni also cast his vote at a polling booth in Ranchi. The third phase of Assembly elections are being held on 17 seats across Jharkhand. Voting is being held on Ranchi, Hatia, Kanke seats apart from others.
Another important seat is Silli where AJSU president Sudesh Mahto is locked in a direct fight with JMM candidate and sitting Legislator Seema Devi. Sudesh Mahto had been winning from the Silli Assembly seat from 2000 to 2014. He lost the 2014 Assembly polls to Amit Mahto of the JMM. Amit Mahto later lost the membership of the Assembly after he was convicted in a case. Seema Devi, wife of Amit Mahto, fought the bypoll and defeated Sudesh Mahto.
Former chief minister and Jharkhand Vikas Morcha-Prajatantrik (JVM-P) president Babulal Marandi is contesting from Dhanwar seat and is locked in a triangular fight with sitting CPI-ML Legislator Rajkumar Yadav and BJP candidate and former IPS officer Lakshman Prasad. Marandi seems to have developed a taste of defeat since 2014 Lok sabha poll. He had fought the Lok Sabha poll against JMM president Shibu Soren from Dumka and lost the poll. He had fought the Assembly poll from two seats in 2014 and lost both seats. He also lost the 2019 Lok Sabha poll from Koderma seat.
According to news agency ANI, 45.14% voter turnout recorded till 1 PM. While polling at Ranchi, Hatia, Kanke, Barkatha and Ramgarh seats will end at 5 pm, voters in rest of the constituencies can exercise their franchise till 3 pm.
According to CVoter’s opinion poll, the BJP will get 33 seats in the 81-member Legislative Assembly. The grand alliance of opposition parties — Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, Congress and RJD, is predicted to get 30 seats. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE
On Wednesday, security personnel seized Rs 30 lakh in cash from a person at the Ranchi airport. The cash was detected during security check. The latest seizure at the airport takes the total cash seized since poll-related restrictions were imposed on November 1 to over Rs 6 crore.
Senior Congress leader and former union minister Subodh Kant Sahay was among the early voters.
Ranchi Assembly seat has been the traditional stronghold of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Yashwant Sinha had won the seat on a BJP ticket in 1995. He resigned from the Assembly after being elected to the Lok Sabha in 1996. C.P. Singh is locked in a direct fight with Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) candidate Mahua Majhi.
An estimated 12.89 per cent of the over 56 lakh eligible voters exercised their franchise till 9 am on Thursday in the third of the five-phase Jharkhand assembly elections in 17 constituencies.
Out of the total 7,016 polling stations set up for the third-phase, 1,008 are marked as ‘critical' and 543 ‘sensitive' in Naxal-affected areas. A total of 1,119 polling stations are ‘critical' and 2,672 polling stations are ‘sensitive' in non-Naxal affected areas. There are 13,504 ballot units, 8,772 controlling units and 9,123 VVPAT in the 17 seats, with double ballot units set up in nine of the constituencies as there are sixteen or more candidates in the fray. A total of 2,014 polling stations have webcasting facilities, 329 model polling stations and 44 polling stations will be conducted by women polling personnel.
Former Union Minister and BJP MP Jayant Sinha arrives at a polling booth in Hazaribagh to cast his vote. Polling is underway in 17 constituencies in the state for the third phase of elections.
Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) will file a writ petition against Citizenship Amendment Bill 2019 in Supreme Court today.
Vinay Kumar Choubey, the Chief Electoral Officer of Jharkhand, said that about 40,000 polling personnel have been deputed to conduct smooth and peaceful voting. He said the polling personnel were apart from the deployment of security forces across the 17 constituencies, which have left-wing extremism pockets.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday morning urged people of 17 seats in Jharkhand to turn out in large numbers and cast their vote in assembly polls to enrich democracy. "The third phase of Jharkhand polls will take place today. Urging all those whose seats go to the polls today to vote in large numbers. I particularly urge my young friends to vote," he tweeted.
People queue up to cast their votes at a polling station in Bokaro during the third phase of voting for assembly elections.
The seats where polling is underway include Koderma, Barkatha, Barhi, Mandu, Hazaribagh, Simaria (SC), Barkagaon, Ramgarh, Dhanwar, Gomia, Berma, Ichagarh, Silli, Khijri (ST), Ranchi, Hatia and Kanke (SC).
Of the 17 seats where polling is currently underway, the BJP, JMM and Congress had won 10, three and two seats, respectively in the 2014 Assembly polls. Voting will be held on five seats -- Ranchi, Hatia, Kanke, Ramgarh and Barkatha from 7 AM to 5 PM while in the remaining 12 seats, voters will be able to vote between 7 AM to 3 PM.
In the third phase, the key candidates include three ministers -- C.P. Singh, Ramchandra Sahis and Neera Yadav, former chief minister Babulal Marandi and former deputy chief minister and All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) president Sudesh Mahto.
There are a total of 309 candidates including 32 female whose fate will be decided by 56,06,743 voters including 26,73,991 female and 95 third gender.
The third phase of polling began on Thursday morning on 17 constituencies in Jharkhand. The voting commenced at 7 AM amidst tight security arrangements.