J'khand to vote in final phase on Wednesday; fate of Soren to be sealed

The stage is set for the second and final round of the electoral battle on Wednesday, in which the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha-Congress-Rashtriya Janata Dal coalition will seek to retain power in Jharkhand, while the Bharatiya Janata Party-headed National Democratic Alliance will try to wrest it.

This phase will decide the electoral fate of Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, his wife Kalpana Soren (both JMM), and Leader of Opposition Amar Kumar Bauri (BJP) besides more than 500 other candidates who are contesting in 38 of the total 81 assembly seats.

During the electioneering, the NDA attacked the JMM-led coalition over alleged infiltration from Bangladesh and corruption of leaders including the CM who is out on bail. The BJP-led alliance also raised the issue of Hindutva.

The ruling dispensation, on the other hand, tried to woo voters by promising welfare schemes and charging the BJP with spending Rs 500 crore in "malicious campaigns" against the CM who is a "tribal leader".

Polling is scheduled to begin at 7 am in 14,218 polling stations and will continue till 5 pm barring 31 booths where it will end at 4 pm. The first phase of the elections was held on November 13.

Eighteen of the 38 constituencies going to polls in the final round are in the Santhal Pargana region comprising six districts -- Godda, Deoghar, Dumka, Jamtara, Sahibganj and Pakur.

The NDA has been alleging during electioneering that large-scale infiltration took place in Santhal Pargana during the past five years of the JMM-led regime.

A total of 1.23 crore voters including 60.79 lakh women and 147 third gender voters are eligible to vote on Wednesday. Altogether 528 candidates -- 472 men, 55 women and a third gender person -- are in the fray.

Chief Electoral Officer K Ravi Kumar said all preparations for voting have been completed and polling personnel for all the booths have been despatched peacefully.

Top BJP leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, BJP present JP Nadda and chief ministers of several states in their targeted Hemant Soren who spent five months in jail in a money-laundering case linked to an alleged land scam.

They also made removal of Champai Soren as CM shortly after Hemant Soren was released on bail in June, a major poll plank claiming that a tribal was insulted by the JMM.

Champai Soren later joined the BJP and is a contestant of the assembly election.

INDIA bloc leaders including Congress's Rahul Gandhi, party president Mallikarjun Kharge, Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren and his wife and legislator Kalpana Soren too campaigned extensively, promising welfare schemes and accusing the BJP-led Centre of "unleashing" ED and CBI against the rival parties.

Besides CM Soren and his wife, prominent among the candidates in this round include state BJP president and ex-CM Babulal Marandi, Assembly Speaker Ravindra Nath Mahto (JMM) and BJP ally AJSU Party chief Sudesh Mahto.

There are 28 reserved seats for ST candidates and nine for SC contestants.

Of the SC seats, JMM won 2, BJP 6 and RJD 1 in the 2019 polls. In ST reserved seats, JMM was victorious in 19, Congress in 6, BJP 2 and JVM(P) 1.

This time, as far as NDA is concerned, BJP has fielded candidates in 68 seats while allies AJSU Party in 10, JD-U in two and Lok Janshakti (Ram Vilas) in one.

Of the INDIA bloc, JMM has fielded candidates in 43 seats, Congress 30, RJD 6 and Communist Party of India-Marxist Leninist 4 with friendly fights on some seats.

In the 2019 assembly elections, the contest was close, with the JMM winning 30 seats and the BJP securing 25, down from 37 in 2014.

The JMM-Congress-RJD alliance won a comfortable majority with 47 seats.

Since the implementation of the Model Code of Conduct, about Rs 200 crore worth of illegal materials and cash have been seized, which is the highest in the recent past, the CEO said.

Kumar said that 90 cases pertaining to violation of the model code of conduct  were recorded.

Of the total 14,218 polling stations, the responsibility of the entire voting process at 239 polling stations will be in the hands of women while 22 booths will be manned by persons with disabilities, the CEO said.