Heena Sharma Blog

The fifth and final phase of polling in 16 assembly constituencies of Jharkhand passed off peacefully, Election Commission officials said here. An estimated 70.83 per cent of the total 4 million voters exercised their franchise till 5 pm when the polling ended, they said. However, voting for five left wing extremists affected seats had ended at 3 pm, after the exercise to all the constituencies commenced at 7 am. The polling percentage is likely to increase as information from all the booths is yet to reach the poll panel, the officials said. BJP candidate and Jharkhand Agriculture Minister Randhir Singh is seeking re-election from Sarath constituency, while another saffron party nominee and Women and Child Development Minister Louis Marandi is pitted against JMM working president Hemant Soren in Dumka. Marandi had defeated Soren in 2014 assembly elections. The JMM leader is also contesting the polls from Barhait seat. His sister-in-law Sita Soren is seeking re- elect

The five phase polling for the 81-seat Jharkhand Assembly concluded on Friday evening with exit polls indicating a hung assembly. Exit polls predicted the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM)-led alliance in the lead, and incumbent Raghubar Das-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) likely to fall significantly short of the majority mark. The fifth and final phase of polling in 16 assembly constituencies of Jharkhand passed off peacefully, Election Commission officials said in Ranchi. An estimated 70.83 per cent of the total 40.05 lakh voters exercised their franchise till 5 pm when the polling ended, they said. According to the India Today-Axis exit poll, the BJP was on course to win 22 to 32 seats in the Jharkhand Assembly. It said the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), Congress, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) alliance could win 38 to 50-seats, while the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (JVM) likely to win 2 to 4-seats, All Jharkhand Students Union 3 to 5-seats and others 4 to 7 seats. The exit poll said