Ranchi/New Delhi: Over 25 lakh people - more than 70 percent of the electorate - Saturday exercised their franchise in the fifth and last round of the assembly election in Jharkhand, officials said.
Sixteen constituencies voted Saturday in the final phase. Of the 16 seats, seven were reserved for Scheduled Tribes.
In New Delhi, Deputy Election Commissioner Vinod Zutshi told the media that the turnout for the fifth and final phase in Jharkhand was 71.25 percent, while the overall percentage was 66.03 percent.
An Election Commission official in Ranchi put the fifth round figure at 70.42 percent, according to estimates.
The highest polling was recorded in Pakur with 75.5 percent, followed by Littipara with 75 percent, while the lowest turnout was recorded in Mahagama at 66.32 percent, the official said, adding that polling was by and large peaceful.
The fate of 208 candidates, including 16 women, was sealed in the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in this phase.
A total of 36,90,069 voters - that included over 19 lakh males and more than 17 lakh females - were eligible to vote at 3,773 polling booths.
Voting started at 7 a.m. and ended at 3 p.m.
Of the total booths, 833 were declared 'very sensitive', while another 1,496 were declared 'sensitive'.
As many as 22,240 personnel were deployed in the fifth phase.
Chief Minister Hemant Soren of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), the sitting legislator from Dumka, contested from two constituencies - Dumka and Barhet.
In the 2009 election, the JMM had won nine of the 16 seats and the Bharatiya Janata Party two.
Other prominent candidates in the fray in the final phase were Speaker Shashank Shekhar Bhokta, cabinet minister Lobin Hembrom, Sita Soren, Louis Marandi, Hemlal Murmu, Simon Marandi and Pradeep Yadav.
Votes will be counted Dec 23.
Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged voters to turn up in record numbers in the final phase of elections in Jammu and Kashmir and Jharkhand.
"I urge all those voting in the fifth and final phase of Jammu and Kashmir and Jharkhand assembly polls to turn out in record numbers and vote," Modi tweeted.
Comments
| Quick linksNews
National
International
Regional
Politics
Education & Career
Business
Science & Technology
Health
Views & Analysis
The Funny Side
© 2012 Awaz Multimedia & Publications. All rights reserved.
To this, Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu retorted: 'Do you take responsibility for the people who created disturbances for three days after the prime minister responded last time?'.. .... More
Also Read: Its time India, Pakistan exchange Hindus and Muslims: Shiv Sena
Saiyid Hamid hospitalised, stable
Saiyid Hamid, former Chancellor of Jamia Hamdard and former Vice Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), and one of the tallest figures of Muslims in India today, who was admitted to a hospital in New Delhi Thursday is stable and foing fine. Saiyid Hamid ..... More
Also Read: Saiyid Hamid seriously ill, hospitalized
Ever since the terror attack took place Dec 16 at a school in Peshawar where over 140 people, mostly children, were killed, hashtags like #PeshawarAttack and #IndiawithPakistan have been trending on Twitter, creating a bridge to connect citizens of the two neighbouring nations...... More
Also Read: Dilip Kumar grieves for hometown Peshawar
The Hindu nationalist have constantly dinned into our consciousness that Muslims are separatists, terrorists and communal. There is a suspicion that any political party led and dominated by Muslims would ultimately lead to a second partition of the country.... More
Even as a growing number of mosques across the globe are going "female-friendly" by offering more space to women and seeking their involvement in worship places, in India and the subcontinent women inside mosques are still considered something .... More
Also Read: Muslim Personal Law Board and Indian Muslim women
Born in February 1929 at Ambet village in then Kulaba district (now Raigad), Antulay plunged into student politics in 1945 before going to London from where he earned the coveted degree of Barrister-at-Law....... More
Also Read: Former Union Minister, veteran Cong leader Abdur Rehman Antulay dies