Jharkhand Assembly Elections 2019: 47 % turnout in the first six hours in phase-1

The majority of the constituencies in the first phase are in Maoist infested areas. The polling for the remaining 68 seats of the 81-seat assembly will be held in four phases on December 7, 12, 16 and 20 respectively.

Close to 47 per cent votes were cast in the first six hours on Saturday in Jharkhand’s first phase of polls on 13 assembly seats with two hours still to go.

ITBP personnel stands guard outside the polling booth as people stand in a queue to cast their vote during the first phase of Jharkhand assembly elections, in Latehar on Saturday.(ANI Photo)

Long queues of voters were seen at most of the polling stations in both urban and rural seats in Latehar, Palamu, Garhwa, Chatra, Lohardaga and Gumla districts since 7 am.

Technical glitches delayed the start of voting at some places including at Ambawtikar and Ashram school booths in Latehar assembly segment, where the electronic voting machine (EVM) had developed a technical snag.

Latehar district has seen a turnout of 48.87 per cent followed by Palamu at 46.07 per cent and Chatra at 46.21 per cent.

The majority of the constituencies in the first phase are in Maoist infested areas. The polling for the remaining 68 seats of the 81-seat assembly will be held in four phases on December 7, 12, 16 and 20 respectively.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government of Ragubar Das is seeking to create a state record by winning a clear majority when the results are declared on December 23.

A total of 3906 polling stations including 231 in the cities and 3675 in the rural areas have been set up for nearly 3.8 million voters in the first phase.

The BJP is contesting in 12 seats in the first phase and is supporting Independent Vinod Singh from Hussainabad. The opposition alliance of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal is contesting in four, six and three constituencies, respectively.