The blazing sun and searing heat could not deter voters from venturing out and cast their ballot both in Panki as well as Godda in the bypolls held on Monday.
The Election Commission’s (EC) tentative figures suggest that Panki constituency saw 64 per cent voting while in Godda over 61 per cent of the electorate exercised their franchise.
“The polls remained largely peaceful except for a scuffle at Navdiha booth Number 118 under lesliganj police station. As per the report, workers of BJP and JMM came out against each other complaining about bogus voting. We have received a complaint from the BJP candidate and are looking into the matter,” said Palamu DC Amit Kumar who added that no other instance relating to EVMs from any of the 284 booths came to the fore.
The administration had also made tight security arrangements for safe and secure voting. Poll teams were air-dropped at six booths in Manatu's Chak, a heavily Naxal-infested area.
At village Semri in Manatu, attempts were made to create confusion by the supporters of the contestants but the police foiled it. However, no major incident of disturbance came from Godda.
As soon as the polling got over, political parties made claims and counterclaims of their victory. However, inputs coming in suggest that the BJP is confident of winning Godda while the JMM may feel secure about Panki.
“There is no doubt about Panki. We have taken the lead in every segment. But the desired performance could not be had in Godda. The areas where the JMM has strongholds did not come out and vote in good numbers," said Supriyo Bhattacharya, general secretary of the JMM.
Shashi Bhusan Mehta is the JMM candidate from Panki while Sanjeev Marik is in the fray in Godda.
Similar reaction came from the Congress who put its money at Panki. "Out of four blocks, our candidate has got sufficient votes in two while BJP and JMM have taken leads in one each. Congress has performed well in Muslim-dominated areas which is a good sign. But Godda is doubtful for the UPA candidate," said Congress State president Sukhdeo Bhagat.
The Congress had fielded son of sitting MlA late Bidesh Singh, Devender Singh with the support of RJD and JVM and had backed RJD's Sanjay Prasad Yadav in return at Godda. The posturing nevertheless has made the contest triangular on both the seats.
With both the rival parties primarily giving a walkover to the BJP at Godda, the saffron party is upbeat and positive on both the constituencies.
"Our candidate Amit Mandal is sure to win Godda. We have got sufficient support from our vote bank and got additional aid in the name of an educated and qualified candidate. We are confident about Panki as well, especially in rural pockets where we have been polled handsomely," said Prem Singh, former president of BJP farmers' wing.
The party sidelining several BJP cadres had bet on lal Suraj, son of former JD-U leader and MlA Madhu Singh under social engineering. The idea was to secure backward votes as much as possible besides, getting the BJP's vote bank in the form of upper caste and business communities.
If the calculation works, the ruling party may become victorious on both the seats on Thursday when the results of the bypolls are declared. Verdict in its favour is crucial at this juncture to strengthen the position of Chief Minister Raghubar Das in several ways, especially after losing lohardaga to the Congress.
Panki-4 : Female voters standing in queue to cast their votes during Assembly bypolls for Panki constituency of Palamau, Jharkhand on Monday.