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As 38 Assembly seats in Jharkhand will go to the polls in the second and final phase of the election on Wednesday, Congress leader Ghulam Ahmed Mir, the party's in-charge for the state, expressed confidence in the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha-lead alliance's victory.
Mir said that in the first phase of the election, the percentage of women voters was higher than that of men. He added that since the incumbent JMM-lead alliance government had launched several schemes for women, the higher turnout of women voters would help the alliance retain power in the state. "We have a very good expectation. In the first phase of voting, there was a huge enthusiasm and it was seen that women had a better percentage than men. Compared to the previous elections, this time women's voting percentage was higher. This is a good indication," Mir told ANI. "The Jharkhand government has run a scholarship program for women, and the cash delivery program has been run under Maiya Samman Yojana. We are hopeful that the alliance will come out with a strong mandate and will form the government on 23rd November," he added. Meanwhile, former Chief Minister of Rajasthan and Congress leader Ashok Gehlot expressed strong criticism of the Election Commission, claiming that it has failed to uphold its responsibilities during the campaigning for the assembly polls in Maharashtra and Jharkhand. "The Congress wants that the election should be fought on issues like inflation, unemployment, and corruption. Meanwhile, the BJP is trying to polarise the whole process by making remarks like 'batoge toh katoge' and 'ek hain toh safe hain.' This approach is dangerous...They are fighting this election not on issues but on religion, and this is a dangerous trend. This is a danger to democracy," Gehlot told ANI. "The Election Commission is sleeping... Today people feel that the Election Commission should be locked...The Election Commission should play an important role in saving the democracy of the country, but the Election Commission is not able to do this. This is our complaint," he added. Gehlot also exuded confidence in the INDIA alliance forming the next government in Jharkhand. "The situation in Jharkhand is also good. The guarantee card that was given, the five guarantees for farmers, youth, and women, looking at this atmosphere of guarantee card reaching every household, the INDIA alliance is expected to form the government there," he said. The first phase of the Jharkhand Assembly elections concluded with voting being completed in 43 of 81 assembly seats on November 13, with the remaining 38 seats in Jharkhand taking place on November 20. Campaigning for the polls in the second phase of the election ended at 5 PM on Monday. Votes will be counted on November 23. (ANI)
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