Polling begins for final phase of Jharkhand election

Ranchi, Dec 20:

Polling began for the fifth and final phase of election in Jharkhand in 16 seats at 7 a.m., said an official.

In this phase, the fates of 208 candidates including 16 females will be decided by 36,90,069 voters including 19,04,011 males and 17,84,846 females. Polling is taking place at 3773 polling booths.

The voting started at 7 a.m. and will end at 3 pm.

Of the total booths, 833 booths have been declared as very sensitive while another 1,496 have been declared sensitive. Around 22,240 personnel have been deployed in the fifth phase.

Of the 16 seats, seven seats are reserved for Schedule Tribes (ST).

The fate of Chief Minister Hemant Soren, of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), will be decided in this phase. Soren, who is the sitting legislator from Dumka, is contesting from both Dumka and Barhet.

In the 2009 assembly poll, JMM had won nine seats and BJP two seats.

Besides the chief minister, the prominent candidates who are in the fray in this phase include Jharkhand Assembly Speaker Shashank Shekhar Bhokta, cabinet minister Lobin Hembrom, Sita Soren, Louis Marandi, Hemlal Murmu, Simon Marandi and Pradeep Yadav. (IANS)