Ranchi, Dec 7 (UNI) Barring a couple of stray incidents including one in Sisai in which a youth was killed in police firing, polling for the second phase of elections on 20 seats of the state concluded by a large peacefully with an average voter turn out of nearly 60 per cent being reported.
Till 1500hrs, the average voter turn out on these seats was 59.27 per cent. However the figures are tentative and the polling percentage is likely to be revised once the office of the Chief Electoral Officer comes out with the figures later in the evening. As per the data available so far, Sisai has witnessed the maximum turn out at 68.60 per cent.
Polling on Jamshedpur East and Jamshedpur West seats came to an end at 1700hrs while at the remaining seats it had ended couple of hours before at 1500hrs since these constituencies fell under Left Wing Extremism Zone. Out of the 20 seats which went to the polls, a maximum of 16 were reserved for Schedule Tribes, 1 for Schedule Caste and three others including Bahragora, Jamshedpur East and Jamshedpur West were in general category.
Constituency wise voter turnout till 1500 hrs is as following: Bahragora 66.38 per cent, Ghatshila (ST) 64.47 per cent, Potka (ST) 61 per cent, Jugsalai (SC) 59 per cent, Jamshedpur East 46.41 per cent, Jamshedpur West 43.22 per cent, Saraikela (ST) 56.77 per cent, Chaibasa (ST) 62.28 per cent, Majhganon (ST) 66.67 per cent, Jagannathpur (ST) 60.99 per cent, Manoharpur (ST) 60.03 per cent, Chakradharpur (ST) 62.72 per cent, Kharasawan (ST) 60.12 per cent, Tamar (ST) 67.83 per cent, Torpa (ST) 59.11 per cent, Khunti (ST) 59.2 per cent, Mandar (ST) 61.14 per cent, Sisai (ST) 68.6 per cent, Simdega (ST) 59.07 per cent and Kolebira (ST) 56.5 per cent.
In Gumla at booth number 36 at Baghani village located at Kudra panchayat, a clash took place between people and the security forces in which half a dozen people including policemen were injured and a youth was also killed who was later identified as Jilani Ansari. Post the incident polling on the booth was called off at that booth.
In another incident, the maoists set on fire a bus at Jojohatu under Chaibasa assembly area of the West Singhbhum district. The bus had come to take the polling parties to the relocated both. No casualty was reported in the incident.
Prominent candidates whose future has been locked in the EVMs included Chief Minister Raghubar Das, former cabinet minister Saryu Rai and Congress nominee Gourav Vallabh, Jharkhand Assembly Speaker Dinesh Oraon, Rural Development Minister Neelkanth Singh Munda, Water Resources and Sanitation Minister Ramchandra Sahis, State BJP president Laxman Giluwa and former JPCC chief Pradeep Balmuchu from Ghatshila.
UNI AK AKM