The second phase of the Assembly elections in Jharkhand held on Tuesday in 20 constituencies, including 16 reserved for tribals, spread across Kolhan and South Chotanagpur, registered a higher turnout at 65.72 per cent with impressive figures for Jamshedpur (East) and Jamshedpur (West), compared with the elections conducted in 2009.
Even as the figures marked a continuation of the trend registered in the first phase, peaceful elections were testimonial to the strengthening of the roots of democracy in areas dominated by the ultras.
The office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Jharkhand signaled at the voter awareness drive and continued efforts to update voters' list to eliminate ghost voters besides a host of other measures to be the reasons for the higher polling percentage in Jamshedpur-East and Jamshedpur-West.
While Jamshedpur-East (45.14 per cent in 2009) registered a polling percentage of 58 per cent, Jamshedpur-West registered (42.15 per cent in 2009) 60 per cent polling in the Assembly election.
"We had a challenge to bring urban people out of their houses. We introduced programmes by keeping apathy in urban areas in focus and it is the result of these programmes that polling percentage has been good in Jamshedpur," maintained CEO of Jharkhand, PK Jajoria.
Nonetheless, the encouraging aspect of the election has been that there was no report of violence despite the fact that 262 extremely
sensitive and 196 sensitive booths in the 20 constituencies that went to the polls in the second phase.
Heavy deployment was made at the booths in dense forests in Arki, Tamar, Khunti, Kolebira and ultra-dominated lapung under Mandar constituency.
"The most comforting fact was that no violence has been reported from anywhere. This communicates about the arrangements made for conducting elections," asserted Jajoria. Sidelining the fear of the gun, 65.21 per cent voters turned up at polling booths in Jamshedpur district, 67.36 per cent people exercised their franchise in two constituencies of Seraikela, 69.09 per cent electors voted in five constituencies of Chaibasa, 64.99 voters voted in two constituencies of Ranchi, 59.79 per cent voters turned up in Khunti district, 63.24 per cent voters voted for their next MlA from Sisai in Gumla in addition to 65.96 per cent voters who registered their vote in two constituencies of Simdega.
Significantly, voters of Khunti and Simdega where democracy is always at loggerheads with left-wing ideologies and ultras of the People's liberation Front of India sided with democracy despite a constant threat for boycotting the elections.
The phase-2 of the elections sealed the fate of bigwigs of political parties especially belonging to the Bharatiya Janata Party. Former Chief Minister Arjun Munda; senior BJP leader Saryu Roy and former Deputy Chief Minister and BJP's national vice-president Raghuvar Das are among the candidates in the race for the next Assembly that is likely to be constituted next month. Moreover, Congress' candidate Geetashree Oraon and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha candidate Champai Soren are also among the candidates in the fray to secure their seats in the Assembly. A total of 223 candidates, including 35 women, are in the fray in 20 constituencies.
"I did my best to serve the people of Kharsawan and now it is for the people to decide. Steps were taken to improve roads, water supply and power but a lot still needs to be done to improve the quality of life here," said Munda.
Meanwhile, polling made a cold start in all 20 constituencies with some witnessing a meager 8 per cent turnout in the first two hours and picked up momentum with time. While 18 constituencies voted up to 3 pm, polling in Jamshedpur-East and Jamshedpur-West was extended by two hours.