Jharkhand Panchayat Chunav: Voting underway in 1,047 panchayats across 19 districts in 3rd phase of polls

Ranchi: Voting is being held in 1,047 panchayats covering 70 blocks in 19 districts of Jharkhand in the third of the four-phase panchayat polls on Tuesday amid tight security. More than 46.94 voters, including 22.86 lakh women, are entitled to exercise their franchise to decide the political fate of 27,343 candidates.

In the third phase, elections were scheduled to be held for 15,376 posts, 12,911 panchayat members, 1,047 mukhiyas, 1,290 panchayat committee representatives and 128 Zilla Parishad members. However, a total of 5,950 candidates have already been declared winners unopposed in the third phase, officials said.

"Polling began at 7 am and will continue till 3 pm. Polling parties have already been dispatched to their respective locations," State Election Commission (SEC) Secretary Radhe Shyam Prasad said.

A total of 12,912 polling booths have been set up for the third phase. Of them, 6,021 have been declared sensitive and 3,804 hypersensitive.

Adequate security arrangements have been made both for the electors and the polling personnel. A large number of security personnel have been deployed at all polling stations to conduct peaceful polling, the SEC secretary stated. The final phase of the elections will be held on May 27.

In Ranchi, the district election officer (DEO) and Ranchi deputy commissioner Chhavi Ranjan on Monday directed sector magistrates and police officers engaged in election duty to follow the commission's guidelines properly.

Four blocks in the state capital - Ormanjhi, Angara, Namkum and Silli - will go to polls in the third phase. Ranjan appealed to voters to cast votes without any fear or hesitation.