Artists from the tribal community play the traditional drums as polling officials with EVMs and other election material leave for their respective polling booths on the eve of the last phase of Jharkhand Assembly elections, in Ranchi, on November 19, 2024.
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Over one crore voters will exercise their franchise in 38 Assembly seats, in the final phase of the 2024 Jharkhand Assembly polls today (November 20, 2024).
Phase-1 of polling in Jharkhand, which took place on November 13, saw a voter turnout of 66.65%, a 2.75% increase from the turnout for the 2019 election.
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In the second phase, the BJP is contesting on 32 seats and its ally AJSU on six seats. For the INDIA bloc, JMM is contesting from 20 seats, Congress from 13, Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) from four, and RJD from two. The JMM and CPI(ML) will have a friendly contest in Dhanwar while the Congress and RJD will engage in a friendly fight in Chattarpur and Bishrampur.
The prominent candidates in the second phase include Chief Minister Hemant Soren contesting from the Barhait constituency, his wife Kalapana Soren from Gandey, and his brother Basant Soren from Dumka; BJP State president Babulal Marandi from Dhanwar; Leader of Opposition in the Jharkhand Assembly, Amar Kumar Bauri of the BJP, from Chandankiyari; Shibu Soren’s daughter-in-law Sita Soren from Jamtara; and All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) president Sudhesh Mahato from Silli.
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