Jharkhand- Ranchi: Voting is underway for the second and final phase of the Jharkhand Assembly elections, with 31.37% voter turnout recorded by 11 a.m., according to the Election Commission. The phase is being held across 38 constituencies in 12 districts, with 528 candidates vying for seats.
Among the constituencies, Maheshpur in Santhal Pargana saw the highest voter participation at 38.35%, followed by Silli in Ranchi with 37.60%, Sarath at 36.86%, and Littipara at 34.71%. On the other hand, Dhanbad Urban recorded the lowest turnout, with only 21.65% of voters casting their ballots by 11 a.m.
A controversy erupted in the Madhupur constituency of Deoghar district, where a polling officer at booth number 111 was removed on allegations of attempting to influence voters in favor of a particular party. BJP MP Nishikant Dubey accused the officer of directing voters to cast their votes for the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM). The officer was reportedly arrested for the alleged misconduct.
The election is being conducted across 14,219 booths, with a heavy security presence. A total of 585 companies of central paramilitary forces, 60 companies of Jharkhand Armed Police (JAP), and 30,000 district personnel and home guards have been deployed to ensure a smooth voting process. Voting will conclude at 5 p.m., although 31 highly sensitive booths will close earlier at 4 p.m.
In this phase, 1.23 crore voters are eligible to cast their votes. The 38 constituencies include 18 seats each from the Santhal Pargana and North Chotanagpur divisions, and two from South Chotanagpur. Of the 38 seats, eight are reserved for Scheduled Tribes, three for Scheduled Castes, and 27 are general seats.
Mandu in Hazaribagh district is the largest constituency by area, while Jharia in Dhanbad is the smallest. Bokaro has the highest number of voters, with 5,82,101, while Littipara has the lowest, with 2,17,388 voters.
Several high-profile candidates are contesting in this phase. Chief Minister Hemant Soren is running from Barhait as a JMM candidate, while BJP state president and former CM Babulal Marandi is contesting from Rajdhanwar. Other prominent candidates include Kalpana Soren (Gandey), Rabindra Nath Mahato (Nala), Amar Bauri (Chandankiyari), Deepika Pandey Singh (Mahagama), Irfan Ansari (Jamtara), Hafizul Hasan (Madhupur), Baby Devi (Dumri), AJSU Party chief Sudesh Mahto (Silli), and CM Soren’s brother Basant Soren (Dumka).
With a high-stakes election underway, the final phase of voting is expected to continue smoothly, with the counting of votes scheduled to follow.