Second phase of Jharkhand polls tomorrow on 38 seats

The first phase of the Jharkhand polls was held in 43 of 81 assembly seats on November 13. The results for all 81 constituencies will be declared on November 23, alongside those for Maharashtra Assembly elections and bypolls across several states.

A total of 528 candidates are in the fray for the 38 seats in this phase, including 55 women and one third-gender candidate and 472 male candidates.

Polling will begin at 7 in the morning and will conclude at 5 pm, barring some sensitive polling stations, where voting will conclude at 4 pm. Over 1.23 crore voters, including 61.0 lakh women, are eligible to cast their votes.

Prominent candidates in the fray include Chief Minister Hemant Soren, his wife Kalpana Soren, and his sister-in-law Sita Soren from the JMM. Key BJP leaders in the second phase include former Chief Minister Babulal Marandi, Assembly Speaker Ravindra Nath Mahto (JMM), AJSU Party chief Sudesh Mahto, and Leader of Opposition Amar Kumar Bauri.

The election is largely a fight between Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM)-led alliance BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

A total of 14,218 polling stations have been established across rural and urban areas to ensure smooth conduct of the elections.

DC Dhanbad Madhvi Mishra said that the district administration has completed preparations for polling.

"The district administration has completed the preparations for the polling to be held for the (Jharkhand) Vidhan Sabha elections tomorrow. We have made the preparations to conduct the elections in a free and fair manner. The polling parties are being dispatched to their respective polling booths," Mishra said.

Leaders of JMM-led alliance and BJP expressed confidence of their victory in the polls.

Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said JP will bring change in Jharkhand.

"There is no governance in Jharkhand. Women are not safe here...The future of youth is not secure. They are troubled. The people are suffering due to corruption. These are the big issues here. There is no government...Jharkhand needs transformation and the BJP will bring a change here. The wave of transformation is here in Jharkhand...Everyone has made up their mind to form the government of NDA and BJP," Chouhan said.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former Chief Minister Champi Soren attacked Congress and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM).

"We have got a very good response in the state. The people want change. From Santhal Parganas to Palamu, there is a BJP wave in all the (assembly) constituencies. People don't have trust in Congress. People will not trust Congress in Jharkhand because they have always done injustice to the people of the state. Jharkhand Andolan was on for such a long time only because of Congress. Congress was the only one that crushed the movement. They have created martyrs in the state. They never understood the pain of the Adivasis and 'moolnivasis' in the state," Champi Soren said.

Congress leader Supriya Shrinate said JMM-led alliance will be voted back to power.

"I am confident that we will repeat govt in one state and form govt in the other state. The reason is that the people of Maharashtra are tired of Mahayuti. We are confident that we will form government as we are talking about farmers, loan waivers, caste census, free bus service for women, Rs 3000 for women, Rs 25 lakh insurance scheme, youth and common person of Maharashtra," she said.

Top leaders of BJP and Congress campaigned in the state with JMM also holding a large number of meetings.

Among the 38 seats headed for polls, eight are reserved for Scheduled Tribes (ST) and three for Scheduled Castes (SC).

A voter turnout of 66.65 per cent was recorded across the 43 Assembly constituencies in Phase 1 of the Jharkhand polls, marking an increase of 2.75 per cent compared to 2019 assembly elections.

According to the data released by the Election Commission, 37 out of the 43 constituencies saw more women casting their votes than men. (ANI)