Jharkhand voting in 2nd phase of assembly poll today, CM Das among candidates

Voting in 20 constituencies is being held in the second phase of assembly election in Jharkhand on Saturday.

Chief minister Raghubar Das, state assembly speaker Dinesh Oraon, former state food supply minister Saryu Roy, BJP state president Laxman Gilua and state rural development and parliamentary ministers are the key contestants among the 260 candidates whose fate will be sealed as 48,25,038 voters exercise their franchise in the second phase of Jharkhand Assembly Elections-2019.

Polling in all the seats began at 7 am and will continue till 3 pm barring only Jamshedpur-East and Jamshedpur-West constituencies where polling will be held from 7 am to 5 pm. These are the seats where QR coded voter slips and Booth App will be used for the first time in the state.

Raghubar Das is locked in a bitter electoral battle with his former Cabinet colleague and now independent candidate Saryu Roy in Jamshedpur-East constituency.

State assembly speaker and BJP candidate Dinesh Oraon is caught in a direct fight with JMM candidate Jigga Susaran Horo in Sisai seat with issues like connecting Sisai, Bharno and Basia areas with rail link. Oraon had won the seat in 2014.

State BJP chief Laxman Gilua, on the other hand, is stuck in a tough electoral battle in Chakradharpur seat where JMM’s Sukhram Oraon, former MLA from the seat, has been giving him a run for his money. Sitting MLA Shashi Bhusan Samad as JVM-P candidate and AJSU Party nominee Ram Lal Munda have made the contest even more interesting here even after CM promised to make it a district if voted to power.

State rural development and parliamentary Neelkanth Singh Munda too is having a tough time in his home constituency Khunti with JMM’s Sushil Pahan. JVM-P candidate and social activist Dayamani Barla is adding surprise factor in the election here where controversial Patthalgadi movement ruled the roost for over a year and is plagued by tribal anger and unrest for long.

Tamar is another seat of interest where JMM’s Vikas Munda, son of slain former minster Ramesh Singh Munda, is taking on BJP’s Rita Devi. Surrendered Maoist commander Kundan Pahan and former minster Raja Peter, both presently in jail for murder of Ramesh Singh Munda, are also contesting from the seat. Peter had earlier defeated former CM Sibu Soren.

In the three districts of Kolhan with 13 assembly seats, the battle lines are clearly drawn between BJP and JMM. BJP had five seats in East Singhbhum while its erstwhile ally AJSU Party had one seat in East Singhbhum. JMM, on the other hand, had all the five seats in West Singhbhum and both the seats in Seraikela-Kharsawan district in 2014.

“This scene of West Singhbhum and Seraikela-Kharsawan is going to extend to East Singhbhum now,” said JMM general secretary Supriyo Bhattacharjee.

Meanwhile, drones, choppers and anti-land mines vehicles were rolled out and 42, 000 security forces were air-dropped or taken to cluster points by motor vehicles today to man 4478 hyper sensitive and sensitive booths across 20 seats.

State chief election officer (CEO) told the media this evening that 949 booths have been marked as hyper sensitive and 762 as sensitive booths from Naxal violence point of view during the second phase polling tomorrow.

“2005 booths have been identified as hyper sensitive and 762 as sensitive in non-Naxal areas while 1,588 general booths have also been identified. All the hyper sensitive and sensitive booths will have deployment of armed security personnel and polling officials have been sent to 155 booths by helicopters,” said Choubey.

The CEO said a total of 5,784 weapons against 7,031 licensed weapons have been submitted in the second phase, 2,588 warrants have been complied while 88 non- bailable warrants were still pending. “Two persons have been detained while 762 persons have been bound over,” added Choubey.

The first phase had concluded on November 30. The fifth and final phase of polling will be held on December 20 and counting will take place on December 23.