Jharkhand civic polls: Nearly 51% voter turnout recorded in 48 ULBs

Around 51 per cent of the 43 lakh odd voters exercised their franchise till 3 pm in the civic polls to 48 Urban Local Bodies (ULBs)in Jharkhand on Monday, an election official said. Voting, which commenced at 7 am, is underway amid tight security.

“Voter turnout of 50.61 per cent was recorded till 3 pm. Polling is peaceful,” State Election Commission (SEC) secretary Radhe Shyam Prasad said.

Seraikela Nagar Panchayat recorded the highest turnout of 63.20 per cent, while Ranchi Municipal Corporation (RMC) registered the lowest at 34.16 per cent, followed by Dhanbad Municipal Corporation at 36.60 per cent. Over 43 lakh voters are eligible to decide the fate of 6,000-plus candidates.

Chief Minister Hemant Soren and his Kalpana Soren, an MLA from Gandey assembly constituency, exercised their franchise at a booth in St Paul Kuldeep High School in Ranchi’s Harmu area.

“Civic poll is part of our democratic system where we elect our local representative. We have exercised our franchise and appeal to the people to use their rights to vote,” Soren told reporters after casting his vote.

Union Minister of State for Defence, Sanjay Seth, exercised his franchise at a booth in the Kaju Bagan area of Ranchi. State Election Commissioner (SEC) Alka Tiwari exercised her franchise at ward number 40 in Ranchi and said polling is underway peacefully across the state.

Long queues of voters, especially women, were seen at most polling stations. However, in two major municipal corporation areas -- Ranchi and Dhanbad -- fewer electors had turned up to cast their votes.

Chaos and minor clashes were reported from parts of the state.

Supporters of two candidates clashed at a booth in the Town police station area of Giridih district, which was brought under control by the police. A similar incident was reported at booth 32 in the Chas Municipal Corporation area in Bokaro district.

In Ranchi, voters in several areas alleged chaos in their respective booths. A voter, Rajesh Sinha that he could not exercise his franchise, as his name was missing in the list.

“My booth was at Kairali School, Dhurwa. I was given a slip mentioning my name and room number outside the booth. As I entered the booth, the poll officials did not find my name in the actual voter list, while it was available on the election commission’s site. I was not allowed to vote, and I had to return, Sinha told PTI.

He claimed several other voters also faced a scenario like his.

In Pakur, which has a substantial Muslim population, women, despite the month of Ramzan, lined up at polling stations in large numbers to exercise their franchise.

Prasad said the elections are underway for the posts of mayor and chairperson in 48 ULBs, and councillors in 1,042 wards across nine municipal corporations, 20 nagar parishads and 19 nagar panchayats.

As many as 562 candidates, including 235 women, are in the fray for the posts of mayor and chairperson, while 5,562 candidates, including 2,727 women, are contesting the posts of ward councillors.

Prasad said adequate security arrangements have been made in all the booths.

A total of 4,307 polling booths have been set up for the elections. Of these, 896 have been identified as hyper-sensitive and 2,445 as sensitive.

ULB polls in Jharkhand are not contested on the electoral symbols of the political parties, but candidates are backed by the outfits.