Ranchi: Jharkhand on Friday recorded an estimated voter turnout of 65.23 per cent in the assembly polls, a sharp drop from the 2014 elections which brought the BJP to power in the state. But, the Election Commission figures are provisional and are subject to change.
For the first time since Jharkhand's creation 19 years ago, assembly elections to all the 81 seats passed off without violence by Maoists.
Jharkhand was formed in 2000 from Bihar. Jharkhand had its first Assembly election in 2005; then in 2009 with the previous Assembly elections being held in 2014.
The voter turnout went up in the 2014 assembly election and stood up at 66.23 per cent in Jharkhand.
First Phase
The first phase of assembly election was held on November 30 for 13 assembly constituencies that are severely hit Maoist activities. However, a few incidents of sporadic violence were reported.
Naxalites exploded a bomb near a culvert in the forests of Gumla district, but there was no casualty or damage.
A minor clash broke out between two groups near Kosiyara polling station in Daltonganj assembly constituency. The agitators broke the window panes of a police vehicle after Congress candidate KN Tripathi allegedly tried to enter the polling booth with arms.
In the first phase, the voter turnout was 64.71 per cent which was 2.79 % more than 2014 percentage (61.92%). The fate of 189 candidates will be decided by the people of Jharkhand in this phase.
Second Phase
The women contributed significantly in the second phase of the assembly election which was held on December 7. As many as 17 seats were reserved out 20 seats of seven districts for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The number of female voters is more than the male voters in these 11 seats.
Meanwhile, 15 out of 20 seats were falling under Naxalite affected region during the second phase of the election. Still, there was a voter turnout of 65. 15 per cent which was 0.31 per cent less than 2014 voter turnout (65.46 %).
Third Phase
The third phase of voting ended amid tight security on 12 December.
In this phase, around 56 lakh voters exercised their franchise for 17 seats of eight districts. The fate of 309 candidates will be decided in this phase of assembly elections.
This phase will play a vital role for AJSU leader Sudesh Mahto after they ended the coalition with BJP to start their own political journey. This phase will also decide the political career of prominent AJSU leaders.
There was 61.11 per cent voter turn out in this phase which holds a slight difference from 2014 percentage (61%).
Fourth Phase
The fourth phase of voting was held on December 16 for 15 assembly seats of five districts.
In this phase, 221 candidates contested the polls. The highest voting in this phase was 74.50 per cent from Chandankiyari and the lowest turnout was from Bokaro (50.64%).
The voter turnout in this phase was 63.30, while in 2014 it was 61.65%.
Fifth Phase
In the fifth and final phase of the election, the polling was held for 16 assembly seats in six districts.
There were 237 candidates in the fray but after the death of 1 candidate, only 236 were left.
The approximate voter turnout for the fifth phase was 71.69 per cent, compared to the 71.25 per cent recorded in the 2014 assembly election.
...The state has a total number of 2,08,52,808 electors, including Service Voters. As per the electoral rolls in January 2019, there are 1.18 crore male voters, 1.08 crore female voters and 40,336 service voters.
The number of polling stations in 2014 was 24,803.
There are 81 assembly seats in Jharkhand, but due to 19 extremely Naxalite affected regions, the chief Election Commission took the decision to conduct the voting in five phases. However, there were some sporadic incidents in the first phase of the election after which the administration took strict actions. Later on, all phases of elections were completed peacefully.
The fate of all 1215 candidates will be decided on December 23.
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