Ranchi, Nov 13 (UNI) Over 65 percent of the 1.37 crore electors cast their franchise amidst tight security, as polling for 43 seats in phase one of the Jharkhand Assembly polls passed off peacefully on Wednesday, the Election Commission said
An Election Commission Commission report said 65.71 percent of the eligible voters had exercised their franchise in 43 of the state's 81 seats by pressing the EVM buttons till 7 p.m.
Though the polling deadline ended at 5 p.m. in most of the areas, voting continued beyond the scheduled time as many voters had queued up before the booths to exercise their democratic rights.
However, in 950 sensitive booths, voting officially got over at 4 p.m due to security reasons.
The Chief Electoral Officer K Ravi Kumar had told mediapersons earlier that all those who arrive at the booths by the scheduled deadline would be allowed to vote.
"The polling percentage is 65.71 percent till 7 p.m," the Election Commission report said.
Earlier, People queued up before polling booths in strength even before the start of polling to exercise their democratic choice early. A large number of women and youth, including many first-time voters, were seen waiting patiently for their turn to vote in the cities, towns and villages.
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.
Other VIP voters included Odisha Governor and former Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das in Jamshedpur, current CM and JMM chief Hemant Soren and his wife Kalpana Soren in Ranchi. Minister of State for Defence Sanjay Seth also expressed his democratic choice. Former Indian cricket team skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his wife Sakshi Dhoni voted in Ranchi
To prevent any untoward incidents, the authorities 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 had the option to choose their representatives during the day from a pool of 683 candidates - 73 of them women and one belonging to the third gender.
Among the keenly watched constituencies were Seraikella, Jaganathpur and Jamshedpur East.
The BJP 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 saw a duel between Congress nominee Ajoy Kumar, a former police superintendent of Jamshedpur, and Purnima Das Sahu, daughter-in-law of 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 had the highest number of candidates at 28, while only eight contestants were in the fray from Jagannathpur.
The rest 38 seats will see voting on November 20
The vote count is on November 23.
UNI SSP ARN