Jharkhand: Ghatshila bypoll sees 73.88 pc turnout till 5pm

Jamshedpur (Jharkhand), Nov 11 (PTI) Nearly 74 per cent of the 2.56 lakh voters exercised their franchise in the by-election to the Ghatshila assembly seat in Jharkhand at the official close of polling at 5 pm on Tuesday, an official said.

The figure, however, is likely to increase as a number of voters who were in the queue at 5 pm would cast their votes.

The polling percentage in the Ghatshila seat in the 2024 assembly elections was 76.4 per cent.

Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) K Ravi Kumar said, “The voting passed off peacefully in all 300 polling stations across the constituency, and a 73.88 per cent turnout was recorded till 5 pm. The final turnout is likely to increase.” The votes will be counted on November 14.

The election result, however, will not leave any major impact on the government, as the JMM-led alliance currently has 55 MLAs, while the BJP-led NDA has 24, in the 81-member state assembly.

The ruling JMM general secretary and spokesperson Supriyo Bhattacharya claimed that the people of Ghatshila have decided to pay tributes to 'Dishom Guru' (leader of the land) Shibu Soren, and former education minister Ramdas Soren whose death necessitated the bypoll, by defeating the BJP.

Jharkhand BJP working president Aditya Sahu, on the other hand, alleged that the people vowed to teach the state government a lesson for its alleged anti-tribal approach, rampant corruption and deteriorating law and order situation.

The main contest is likely to be between Somesh Chandra Soren of the ruling JMM and the BJP's Babulal Soren, son of former chief minister Champai Soren. Somesh Chandra is the son of Ramdas Soren.

The by-election was necessitated following the death of JMM MLA Ramdas Soren on August 15. A total of 13 candidates are in the fray.

The CEO said that no untoward incident was reported from any place excluding two allegations of model code of conduct (MCC) violation.

“As many as four cases of MCC violations were registered so far in the Ghatshila bypoll including two on Tuesday,” he added.

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