Jharkhand Assembly election 2019: 3rd phase of polling witnesses voter turnout of 61.93%

Ranchi: Jharkhand witnessed 61.93 per cent voting in the third phase of Assembly elections, covering  17 seats in the 7 districts of Ranchi, Hazaribagh, Chatra, Giridih, Bokaro, Koderma and Saraikela, on Thursday (December 12). This phase will decide the fate of 309 candidates, including 32 females. 

The constituency wise percentage of votes are: 1-Kodarma-58.20%, 2-Barkatha-61.18%, 3-Barhi-63.40%, 4-Mandu-62.41%, 5-Hazaribagh-61.58%, 6-Simaria-62%, 7-Barkagaon-64.53%, 8-Ramgargh-70.50%, 9-Dhanwar-59.86%, 10-Gomia-67.18%, 11-Bermo-61.13%, 12-Ichagarh-73.11%, 13-Silli-76.98%, 14-Khijri-63.09%, 15-Ranchi-59.47%, 16-Hatia-56.63%, and 17-Kanke-62.83%. 

The voting for 12 seats began at 7 am and ended at 3 pm, while the rest of five seats, including Ranchi, Hatia, Kanke, Ramgarh and Barkatha, polling ended at 5 pm.

According to Election Commission data, the state recorded 61.93 per cent polling in the third phase, while the highest polling was witnessed in Silli at 76.98 per cent, and the lowest was in Ranchi at 49.1 per cent.

The Assembly elections has become a multi-cornered fight with the All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) breaking off from BJP to fight the elections on its own and other regional parties such as JVM among others already in the competition.

Congress, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) have entered into a coalition to defeat BJP, which is striving hard to return to power under the incumbent Chief Minister Raghubar Das.

There is a direct fight between the BJP, the Congress and the JMM on seven seats. In Silli, the fight is between AJSU President Sudesh Mahto and sitting JMM legislator Seema Devi. There is a triangular fight on six seats.

The first phase of the election took place on November 30, while the second round was held on December 7, and the fourth phase will be held on December 16, and the fifth and last phase is scheduled on December 20. The counting of votes will take place on December 23. 

The key candidates, whose fate was sealed in the third phase, include three sitting ministers, CP Singh, Ramchandra Sahis and Neera Yadav, along with former Chief Minister Babulal Marandi and former Deputy Chief Minister and All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) President Sudesh Mahto.

Of the 17 seats, BJP, JMM, and Congress had won 10, three and two seats, respectively, in the 2014 Assembly elections.

(With Agency Inputs)