Elections 2019: Polling begins in four LS seats in Jharkhand

Pic courtesy/Twitter/ANI

Ranchi: Polling began on Monday for four parliamentary constituencies of Jharkhand at 7 a.m, said an official. In the state's second phase of Lok Sabha election, the voting is underway at Ranchi, Khuti, Hazaribagh and Koderma. The polling will end at 4 p.m. A total of 61 candidates are in the fray for the four seats including 14 in Koderma, 20 in Ranchi, 11 in Khunti and 16 in Hazaribagh. A total of 65,87,028 voters are eligible to cast their votes on these seats across 8,834 polling booths.

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Polling for 51 constituencies, spread across seven states, began on Monday to test the fate of some political heavyweights like Congress president Rahul Gandhi, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Union Minister Smriti Irani. The polling for the fifth phase began at 7 am and will continue till 6 pm, amid elaborate security arrangements. Appealing to voters to turn out in large numbers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote on his Twitter handle: "Requesting all those voting in today's fifth phase of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections to do so in large numbers. A vote is the most effective way to enrich our democracy and contribute to India's better future. I hope my young friends turn out in record numbers."

Get live updates on fifth phase of Elections 2019 here

Fourteen seats in Uttar Pradesh, 12 in Rajasthan, seven each in West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh, five in Bihar and four in Jharkhand will go to polls in addition to Ladakh and Anantnag constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir. This is an important phase for BJP in Uttar Pradesh since it had won 12 out of the 14 seats in the 2014 general elections. The party is now facing the combined force of SP, BSP and RLD, which had contested separately last time.

According to the Election Commission of India, over 8.75 crore voters are eligible to cast their ballot to decide the fate of 674 candidates across the country. As many as 96,000 polling stations have been set up and security arrangements made for the smooth conduct of the elections. In Jharkhand, two former chief ministers Babulal Marandi, the leader of Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik), and Arjun Munda of BJP are contesting from the Koderma and Khunti seats respectively.

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Edited by mid-day online desk with inputs from Agencies