Jharkhand gears up for first phase of poll Wednesday

Ranchi/Jamshedpur, Nov 24: Security forces tightened their cordon in Jharkhand on the eve of the first phase of assembly polls, fearing largescale disruption by Maoist insurgents.

In the first phase Tuesday, 26 of the 81 assembly seats in the state will go to the polls.

Altogether 470 candidates are in the fray, of whom 212 are Independents and 34 are women. Godda, JMM founder Shibu Soren's constituency, and Tundi have fielded the maximum number of 25 candidates each. Jugsalai in East Singhbhum has only 11 candidates - the lowest number from one segment in the first phase.

According to official records, 6.5 million people are eligible to cast their votes in the first phase, for which 8,175 booths have been set up.

Paramilitary forces have been eployed in the state, while the borders of the assembly segments have been sealed and the army staged flag marches in all districts. Nearly 200 booths have been declared sensitive and have been given additional security, senior state police officials said.

The Ranchi-Jamshedpur highway Tuesday resembled an army zone with security posts at every 10 km interval to thwart attempts by Maoists active in the area to strike at booths. Traffic on the stretch was thin and the security forces frisked passengers in buses and cars.

Jamshedpur in East Singhbhum and some segments of Ranchi and Hatia will vote Wednesday.

In the 2005 assembly polls, the BJP and the JD-U had won 13 and two seats respectively of the 26 seats, while the JMM and the Congress won six and three seats respectively. One each was won by the Rashtriya Jana Dal (RJD) and the Forward Bloc (FB).

Of the 26 constituencies going to polls in the first phase, 14 are in tribal dominated Santhal Pargana region. In 2005, Babulal Marandi was in the BJP and had won the Dumka Lok sabha seat twice by defeating JMM chief Shibu Soren. Marandi quit the BJP in 2006 and floated his own party, Jharkhand Vikas Morcha-Prajatantrik (JVM-P). Marandi is likely to make dent in the vote bank of the BJP in Santhal Pargana.

The JVM-P has cemented an alliance with the Congress for the assembly polls. In the first phase, the Congress and the JVM-P are contesting 19 and seven seats respectively.