J'khand witnesses peaceful, naxal violence-free voting

The first phase of the Jharkhand Assembly elections, covering 43 seats, was held in a peaceful manner on Wednesday. Over 66.18 per cent of the 1.37 crore eligible voters cast their ballots, according to officials.

Despite nearly half of the 15,334 polling booths being categorized as "critical", there were no reported incidents of Naxal violence, except for a couple of instances. In these isolated incidents, Maoists attempted to prevent voters from reaching the polling stations in the West Singhbhum district, but their efforts were thwarted by the police and local administration.

"Approximately 66.18 per cent voter turnout was recorded as per data calculated till 9.50 pm, with Lohardaga district topping the list with 73.21 per cent polling and Hazaribag district recording the lowest at 62.78 per cent," a poll official said.

The overall polling percentage in the state surpassed 63.9 per cent recorded in the 2019 Assembly polls, according to the Election Commission.

With this, the fate of 683 candidates, including former Congress MP Geeta Kora and Rajya Sabha MP Mahua Maji among 73 women nominees, in fray in the first phase has been sealed,.