More than half of the over 45 lakh electorates in the fourth and final phase of general elections in Jharkhand are below the age of 40 years, a press communiqué from the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), L Khiangte’s office said on Wednesday.
Dumka, Godda and Rajmahal constituencies will go to polls on May 19. As per figures with the Election Commission of India (ECI), the three constituencies have a total of 45,64,681 voters and out of them 25,33,455 are in the age bracket of 18 to 40 years.
Out of the total electorates, 23,64,541 are men and 22,00,119 are women, while 21 represent the third gender. Among the voters in the age bracket of 18 to 40 years, around 13 lakh are men and around 12 lakh are women.
Young voters, in the age bracket of 18-25 years form 16.29 per cent of the total electorates in the three constituencies, the communiqué from CEO’s office added.
While young voters dominate the electoral roll in the three constituencies, around 2.7 lakh voters, who form nearly 12 per cent of the total electorates, are above the age of 60 years. There are nearly 18 lakh voters in the age bracket of 26 to 40 years, forming 40 per cent of the electorates. Among the 21 third gender voters, 14 are in the age bracket of 18 to 25 years.
Three of four phases of elections for the 14 parliamentary constituencies in Jharkhand are already over. The final phase of election, covering Santhal Pargana, a Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) stronghold, is set to witness a tough contest between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the ‘Mahagathbandhan’.