Ranchi, Nov 13 (UNI) Amidst scenes of enthusiasm, voting began at 7 am on Wednesday in round one of the two-phase election to elect a new government in Jharkhand.
People queued up before polling booths in good numbers even before the start of polling to exercise their democratic choice early in 43 constituencies which have gone to the hustings today in the mineral-rich tribal-dominated eastern Indian state. The rest 38 seats will see voting on November 20
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.
Over 1.37 crore 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 vote count is on November 23.
