Peaceful polling was conducted in four Lok Sabha constituencies of Jharkhand on Saturday where 63.20 per cent polling was recorded at the end of the day.
Polling was conducted in Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Giridih and Dhanbad constituencies on May 25, where the fate of a total of 93 candidates was sealed in the Electronic Voting Machines. Till 5 pm, 63.20 per cent voting took place in Jharkhand. A total of 59.20 per cent votes were cast in Dhanbad, 66.72 per cent in Giridih, 66.79 per cent in Jamshedpur and 61. 34 per cent in Ranchi.
Chief Electoral Officer K. Ravi Kumar said that after peaceful conduct of elections, polling personnel have started returning from the polling stations to deposit the EVMs in the strong room.
He said that the voting process is going on at some polling stations. The voting percentage figures will be updated by late evening. After adding the number of votes cast through postal ballot, the voting percentage will increase further.
The CEO said that 5 cases of violation of model code of conduct during voting have been registered. One case has been registered from Ranchi parliamentary constituency, two from Jamshedpur and two from Giridih parliamentary constituency. He told that the health of 38-year-old John Manjhi, posted on election duty in Gurbandha, Baharagora, Jamshedpur, suddenly deteriorated. He was taken to TMH, Jamshedpur, where he died. John Manjhi was working at the polling station as the third polling officer in reserve.
He said that since the implementation of Model Code of Conduct, cash and materials worth Rs 12846.16 lakh have been seized.
State Police Nodal Officer AV Homkar said that the sixth phase of voting was completed peacefully in all four parliamentary constituencies. He said that 764 polling stations of the four Lok Sabha constituencies of the sixth phase were located in areas where there had been Naxalite activities in the past. This included the areas of Pirtand and Parasnath of Giridih district and Jhumra of Bokaro district. He said that 49,509 soldiers were deployed to ensure peaceful voting. He said that security arrangements had been made by sealing 38 inter-state check posts. He said that the polling personnel are being brought back with full security.
Former Indian cricket team captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni cast his vote in Ranchi. State Governor CP Radhakrishnan and Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh, former Chief Minister Hemant Soren's wife Kalpana Soren and many others voted in Ranchi. Odisha Governor Raghuvar Das cast his vote in Jamshedpur.
There were a total of 82 lakh 16 thousand 506 voters in this phase, out of which the number of male voters is 42 lakh 6 thousand 926. The number of women voters is 40 lakh 9 thousand 290. Third gender voters are 290. The Commission has made special preparations for voting. There is a tough competition between the candidates on these four seats. BJP gave ticket to sitting MP Sanjay Seth from Ranchi Lok Sabha seat. Congress expressed confidence in young face Yashaswini Sahay. Chandraprakash Choudhary from Giridih is contesting from JMM's Mathura Mahato. Jairam Mahato is also in the fray as an independent candidate from Giridih. In the Jamshedpur Lok Sabha elections, there is a contest between BJP MP Vidyut Baran Mahato and Sameer Mohanty from Jharkhand Mukti Morcha. This time BJP has expressed confidence in Dhulu Mahto on Dhanbad Lok Sabha seat, while his competition is with Anupama Singh who is contesting from INDI Alliance.
