Polling in 18 of 20 constituencies which went to polls in the second phase of the Jharkhand Assembly election concluded at 3 pm with a voter turnout of 59.27 percent. Polling in the Jamshedpur East and West Assembly constituencies will end at 5 pm.
Polling in the constituencies, most of which are Naxal-affected, remained largely peaceful, apart from an incident in Sisai constituency. One was killed and two others injured after security personnel opened fire on a group of men who tried to snatch their weapons in Gumla's Sisai constituency police told PTI.
Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) Murari Lal Meena said the man was killed when personnel of the Rapid Action Force (RAF) fired on the assailants near booth number 36 in Sisai constituency. The injured have been admitted to hospital, said Meena, who is also the nodal officer for Assembly election-related security measures.
Jharkhand chief electoral officer Vinay Kumar Choubey said the incident is being probed and polling in the booth has been stopped. A police officer also suffered injuries when angry villagers resorted to stone pelting after the incident, police sources said.
Other constituencies which went to polls were Baharagora, Ghatsila(ST), Potka(ST), Jugsalai (SC), Jamshedpur(East), Jamshedpur(West), Seraikela(ST), Chaibasa(ST), Majhgaon(ST), Jaganathpur(ST), Manoharpur(ST), Chakradharpur(ST), Kharsawan(ST), Tamar(ST), Torpa(ST), Khunti (ST), Mandar(ST), Simdega(ST) and Kolebira(ST).
Despite the incident, Sisai recorded the highest poll percentage (68.6 percent) followed by Tamar ( 67.83 percent) and Majhganon (66.67 percent). The lowest turnout of 43.22 percent was recorded in Jamshedpur (West).
In West Singhbhum district, Naxalites torched an empty bus near Jojo Hatu village in Chaibasa constituency, Superintendent of Police Inderjeet Mahata said.
In Ghatsila, a police officer died of a heart attack while on election duty. Assistant sub-inspector Harish Chandra Giri, 44, was on duty at booth number 234 under Panchando cluster in Barsole under Ghatsila sub-division of the East Singhbhum district when he suffered the heart attack, Baharagoda police station in-charge Rajdhan Singh said.
Giri was taken to a nearby health centre where doctors declared him dead, Singh said, adding that Giri hails from Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh.
Raghubar Das takes on Saryu Roy in Jamshedpur (East)
260 candidates contested from the 20 Assembly seats. Of them 29 are women nominees and 73 are Independents. High-profile candidates including Chief Minister Raghubar Das, Speaker Dinesh Oraon and ministers Neelkanth Singh Munda and Ramchandra Sahis were in the fray for the second phase of polling.
Das contested against his former cabinet colleague turned Independent candidate Saryu Roy in Jamshedpur (East), while Oraon is contesting from Sisai on a BJP ticket. Munda, who is the rural development minister is in the fray in Khunti while Gilua is contesting from Chakradharpur.
Sahis, an AJSU party candiudate, is contesting from Jugsalai seat. Former Jharkhand PCC president Pradeep Kumar Balmachu, who has joined the AJSU party recently, is contesting from
Ghatsila. JD(U) president Salkhan Murmu is contesting from Majhgaon and JVM(P) candidate and former HRD minister Bandhu Tirkey is contesting from Mandar.
A total of 48,25,038 voters, including 23,93,437 female and 90 third gender voters, are eligible to vote.
According to police sources, more than 42,000 security personnel, including central forces, have been deployed on the 20 seats spread across seven districts. "Several of the constituencies going for this phase of polling are Naxal-affected. So, armed police have been deployed as a part of security measures," Choubey said.
Of 6,066 polling stations, 949 have been declared 'critical' and 762 'sensitive' in Naxal-affected areas, he added. Choubey said that 101 polling stations have been relocated due to security reasons, and free transport has been arranged for voters to reach these stations. Webcasting facilities have been made available at 1,662 polling stations, he said.
The BJP is contesting in all 20 constituencies going to the polls in the second phase, while the Opposition alliance of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and Congress are contesting in 14 and six seats respectively.
NDA ally AJSU party, which is contesting the Assembly elections on its own for the first time since the creation of the state, has fielded candidates from 12 constituencies in this phase. The Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) has nominated leaders in all the 20 seats, and the Bahujan Samaj Party in 14 segments.
The CPI is contesting in two seats, the CPI(M) in one seat and the NCP in two. Six candidates of the All India Trinamool Congress are also in the fray in the second round.
The first of the five-phase polling for 13 constituencies had concluded on 30 November. The rest of the three phases are slated to be held on on 12, 16 and 20 December. Counting will take place on 23 December.
With inputs from PTI
December 07, 2019 at 04:52PM
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