Voting begins in last phase of Jharkhand assembly polls

Balloting began Saturday in 16 of the 81 assembly constituencies in the last round of the five-phase elections in Jharkhand, officials said.

Over 36 lakh voters, including more than 17 lakh women, will decide the fate of 208 candidates -- 16 of them women in the fray. Balloting will take place at 3,773 polling booths out of which 833 booths have been declared as very sensitive, while another 1,496 have been declared sensitive.
Voting began at 7 a.m. and will take place till 3 p.m.
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. Other prominent candidates are assembly Speaker Shashank Shekhar Bhokta, minister Lobin Hembrom, Sita Soren, who is the daughter-in-law of Shibu Soren and sister-in-law of the state chief minister, Bharatiya Janata Party national secretary Louise Marandi, and former minister Simon Marandi.