Jharkhand Elections 2024: Over 13 percent voter turnout recorded till 9 am

The voter turnout for the first phase of Jharkhand Assembly elections was nearly 1304 per cent till 9 am on Wednesday officials said PTI reportedAccording to PTI polling for the 43 assembly seats of Jharkhand began around 7 am across 15 districts and will go on till 5 pmA total of 683 candidates are contesting including former CM Champai Soren and exMP Geeta KoraAs per officials polling in 950 booths will end at 4 pm though the people standing in the queue will be able to exercise their franchiseLong queues of voters were seen outside several voting booths this morningThe highest voter turnout was recorded in the Simdega seat at 1509 per cent followed by Ranchi at 1206 per cent and SeraikelaKharsawan at 1462 per cent PTI reportedThe Governor of Jharkhand Santosh Kumar Gangwar has cast his vote at the ATI polling booth in the states capital RanchiToday is the first phase of voting for the Jharkhand Assembly elections I urge all voters to exercise their constitutional right to vote as soon as possible and vote with full enthusiasm in this festival of democracy Remember first vote and then refreshment Gangwar said httpstcokisvkOHRwQ pictwittercomKBwRqGeOtfmdash Santosh Gangwar santoshgangwar November 13 2024Chief Minister Hemant Soren sought the peoples supportIn a post on X he said If you like our work please support us I promise that I will do 10 years of work in the next 5 years so that no one can stop our pace of progress hellip pictwittercom4Pxyq8r9Yimdash Hemant Soren HemantSorenJMM November 13 2024While the JMMcoalition is hoping to retain power riding on its welfare schemes including Maiyan Saman Yojna the Bharatiya Janata Party has been campaigning with its aggressive Hindutva agenda accusing the government of infiltration and alleged corruptionTop BJP leaders which includes Prime Minister Narendra Modi Home Minister Amit Shah Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and BJP chief JP Nadda held multiple rallies where they criticised the JMMled coalition of alleged corruption and infiltrationINDIA bloc leader which includes Congress leader Rahul Gandhi its president Mallikarjun Kharge Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren and his wife and legislator Kalpana Soren highlighted welfare schemes and criticised the BJPled Centre for making all the central agencies including ED CBI and IT against the opposition leadersA total of 137 crore voters are eligible to vote on Wednesday PTI reportedAltogether 683 candidates 60 men 73 women and third gender persons are contesting in the 43 seatsAccording to PTI out of 43 assembly seats in Jharkhand 17 seats are reserved for general 20 for scheduled tribes and 6 seats for scheduled castesA total of 15344 polling stations have been set up for the first phase of Jharkhand electionsChief Electoral Officer K Ravi Kumar said that all the preparations for voting have been completed PTI citedThe responsibility of the entire polling process at 1152 polling stations will be in the hands of women said Kumar further adding that the 24 booths will be manned by people who are handicappedSince the Model Code of Conduct has been in force a total of Rs 20878 crore worth of illegal material and cash has been seized he said PTI citedTill Tuesday 58 cases have been registered for violation of the Model Code of Conduct including a maximum of 29 registered cases in Jharkhands Garhwa districtBoth the NDA and INDIA blocs have pulled out all the stops to ensure their victories in this election with the BJP focusing on Roti Beti Maati and the INDIA bloc on the suppression of the voice of a tribal CM PM Modi did a mega road show in Ranchi on Sunday which saw huge crowds gatheredAs far as key seats are concerned former CM Champai Soren contesting on the BJP ticket in Jharkhands Seraikela is facing JMMs Ganesh MahliBJPs Geeta Kora wife of former CM Madhu Koda is in competition with Congresss Sona Ram Sinku in JagannathpurCongress veteran Rameshwar Oraon will compete against AJSUs Shanti Bhagat in LohardagaIn Jamshepur West JD U candidate Saryu Roy is up against Congresss Banna Gupta PTI reportedThe second phase of Jharkhand Assembly Elections 2024 will be held on November 20 while the vote counting will be on November 23The 2019 Jharkhand assembly elections saw close competition with the JMM winning 30 seats and the BJP winning 25 down from 37 seats in 2014The JMMCongressRJD alliance won a majority with 47 seatsAt present the strength of the assembly stands at 74 with the JMMled ruling alliance comprising 26 from the JMM 17 from Congress and one from RJD PTI reportedWith inputs from PTI