Almost all political parties in the State have welcomed the decision — taken by the Election Commission (EC)— to conduct general elections in Jharkhand in three phases. They believe that it is far more important that the polls are conducted free and fair, no matter in how many phases it gets done.
“The time hardly matters for us as we are fully prepared for it. The EC fixed the dates according to its convenience and we have no objections for that,” said former Assembly Speaker and BJP MlA CP Singh. The party also believes that the EC has taken the decision after considering all aspects and it is more important that the elections are conducted in a free and fair manner than the dates on which they are being conducted.
“We believe that proper arrangements must be made to check against those who want to stall the polling process in the state,” said BJP Spokesperson Pradeep Sinha. Similarly, JVM leader expressing satisfaction over the dates announced by the EC said that he is ready for the polls. “I welcome the decision of EC to conduct the polls in two phases in the state as it has been done taking into consideration the administrative arrangements in the State,” said JVM MlA Pradeep Yadav. Moreover, the schedule hardly matters to us as we are fully prepared for the polls, he added.
According to the AJSU leaders are also satisfied by the polling dates in the state. “As it is a small state, it’s good that it will be completed in three phases,” said AJSU leader Praveen Prabhakar. “Election is not a matter of one or two months but a long term affair, for which one has to prepare for all those five years,” he added. Other parties also called it a wise decision to conduct polls in the state in three phases.
First phase polling at Chatra, Koderma, lohardaga, Palamau and Hazaribagh will be conducted on April 10 while the second phase polling on April 17 will be done at Ranchi, Giridih, Jamshedpur, Singhbhum and Khunti. Polling for the third phase will be conducted on Rajmahal, Godda, Dumka and Dhanbad on April 24.