Around 46.83 per cent votes were cast till 1 pm on Saturday in the first phase of Jharkhand assembly elections in 13 constituencies, amid sporadic incidents of violence in some districts, officials said.
The voting commenced at 7 am and will end at 3 pm, Election Commission (EC) officials said.
A total of 37,83,055 electorate, including 18,01,356 women and five third-gender voters are eligible to exercise their franchise in the first phase across six districts.
This is the fourth assembly election in Jharkhand since 2000 when the state was carved out Bihar. The ruling BJP, which is contesting for the first time without an ally, faces a tough challenge from the united opposition parties. A total of 189 candidates are contesting in the first phase.
The district administration in Jharkhand has tightened the security in two assembly constituencies -- Latehar and Manika, where a Maoist attack took place a few days ago.
Here are the highlights on first phase of Jharkhand assembly elections:
Key candidates in the fray are Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) nominee and state Health Minister Ramchandra Chandravanshi from Bishrampur and state Congress president Rameshwar Oraon from the Lohardaga seat.
Oraon is taking on the former state Congress chief Sukhdeo Bhagat after the latter joined the BJP recently.
Former BJP chief whip Radhakrishna Kishore, who was denied ticket from Chhatarpur, is contesting on an All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) party ticket from the same seat.
The BJP, which is seeking a second straight win under the leadership of Chief Minister Raghubar Das, is contesting in 12 seats in the first phase while it is supporting Independent candidate Vinod Singh from Hussainabad.
The AJSU party is contesting on its own. Challenging the BJP is the opposition alliance of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), the Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal.
While the Congress is contesting in six seats in the first phase, the JMM is fighting in four and the RJD in three constituencies in the first phase.
The other parties contesting the elections are Babulal Marandi's Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik), Janata Dal (United) and the Left parties.
The Bhawanathpur constituency has the maximum of 28 contestants, while Chatra has the lowest with nine. Jharkhand Chief Electoral Officer Vinay Kumar Choubey said a total of 4,892 polling stations have been set up, out of which 1,262 would have webcasting facilities.
Additional Director General of Police Murari Lal Meena said a total of 1,097 polling stations in Naxal-affected areas were marked as hypersensitive and 461 polling stations as sensitive.
Around 46.83 per cent votes were cast till 1 pm on Saturday in the first phase of Jharkhand assembly elections in 13 constituencies, amid sporadic incidents of violence in some districts, officials said.
#WATCH Jharkhand: Congress candidate KN Tripathi brandishes a gun during clash between supporters of BJP candidate Alok Chaurasia & Tripathi's supporters. Tripathi was allegedly stopped by BJP candidate's supporters from going to polling booths, in Kosiyara village of Palamu. pic.twitter.com/Ziu8eCq42z
- ANI (@ANI) November 30, 2019
#JharkhandAssemblyPolls: Queues of voters outside a polling booth in naxal affected area of Kanhachatti in Chatra district. #1stPhase pic.twitter.com/MNyjzQWGCS
- ANI (@ANI) November 30, 2019
Jharkhand: Voting continues at a polling booth in a Govt school in Lohardaga. Voting on 13 constituencies in the state for the first phase of elections is underway. #JharkhandAssemblyPolls pic.twitter.com/IiD3rIR50M
- ANI (@ANI) November 30, 2019
"To keep Jharkhand free from corruption and Naxalism and to maintain the pace of development here, a stable, majority government is necessary. I appeal to all the voters of the first phase to contribute in keeping Jharkhand on the path of development by coming out and voting in large numbers," Home Minister Amit Shah tweeted this morning.
Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das: Today is the first phase of #JharkhandAssemblyPolls. I appeal to all to vote in large numbers. Your one vote is important for the development of the state. (File pic) pic.twitter.com/VcSQkpH1ta
- ANI (@ANI) November 30, 2019
