Ranchi, Nov 13 (UNI) Over 13 percent of the 1.37 crore voters exercised their franchise in the first two hours of polling for 43 seats in phase one of the Jharkhand Assembly election on Wednesday.
"The polling percentage is 13.04 percent till 9 am. The voting is proceeding peacefully," an official said.
The polling for 43 of 81 seats in the mineral-rich tribal-dominated Eastern Indian state began at 7 am amidst scenes of enthusiasm.
People queued up before polling booths in good numbers even before the start of polling to exercise their democratic choice early
State Governor Santosh Kumar Gangwar cast his vote at the Sri Krishna Lok Prashashan Sanstha booth here. After voting, Gangwar extended his best wishes to the people of the state on the occasion of the biggest festival of democracy. He also appealed to the people to play the role of responsible citizens by taking part in the democratic exercise in large numbers.
To prevent any untoward incidents, the authorities have pressed into service over two hundred companies of security forces amidst what appears to be an all-out battle between the ruling INDIA, helmed by the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), and the BJP-led NDA.
The voters can choose their representatives during the day from a pool of 683 candidates, 73 of them women and one candidate from the third gender.
Among the keenly watched constituencies are Seraikella, Jaganathpur and Jamshedpur East.
The BJP has nominated former Jharkhand Chief Minister Champai Soren, who crossed over to the saffron outfit from the JMM in the run-up to the election, from Seraikella.
Jamshedpur East will see a duel between Congress nominee Ajoy Kumar, a former police superintendent of Jamshedpur, and Purnima Das Sahu, daughter-in-law of ex Jharkhand Chief Minister and present Odisha Governor Raghubar Das.
In Jaganathpur, BJP’s Geeta Koda, wife of former Chief Minister Madhu Koda, is taking on Congress leader Sona Ram Sinku.
Jamshedpur West has the highest number of candidates at 28, while only eight candidates are in fray from Jagannathpur.
The rest 38 seats will see voting on November 20
The votes will be counted on November 23.
UNI SSP GNK