New Delhi:
The fifth and final phase of elections, scheduled for December 18 in 16 assembly seats in Jharkhand, will see an interesting battle of ballots among top politicians, with some in jail and some former Naxals, among others.
The assembly segments going to polls in fifth phase are Chaibasa (ST), Jaganathpur (ST), Kharsawan (ST), Seraikella (ST), Garhwa, Bhawanathpur, Panki, Daltonganj, Bishrampur, Chhatarpur (SC), Hussainabad, Simaria (SC), Chatra (SC), Latehar (SC), Manika (ST) and Barkatha.
In the previous assembly elections, of the 16 seats, RJD had 5, BJP 4, JD-U JMM and NCP one each, Independents and others got 4. Following are the keyconstituencies going to poll on Friday.
Jagannathpur: All eyes will be on Jagannathpur from where former chief minister Madhu Koda's wife Geeta Koda is contesting for the first time. Jagannathpur assembly seat was earlier represented by her husband Koda. With the former chief minister in jail on corruption charges, the home maker-turned-politician is now in-charge of the electoral battle not only for her but also for all other candidates fielded by Koda.
Hussainabad: This will be another seat to watch. Koda's ex-Cabinet colleague Kamlesh Kumar Singh, also facing corruption charges, is contesting from this seat. He had won the last elections by a slender margin of 35 votes from the same constituency. Dashrath Kumar Singh of the Janata Dal (United) and Upendra Singh of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) are also in the fray.
Chatra:The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has given ticket to Subedar Paswan and has shifted sitting MLA Satyanand Bhokta to Simaria. Besides Paswan, others in the fray from Chatra are Sahindra Ram from the Congress party, Suresh Das from the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and Janardan Paswan from the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). Chatra is considered the gateway to Jharkhand and has a rich historical heritage.
The historic records related to the city date back to Ashokan times. More than 60 per cent of the area of this district is covered by forest and has scattered settlement patterns.
Chaibasa: This constituency is likely to witness a straight fight between politicians of two different generations. Congress veteran and former MP Bagun Sumbrai will take on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) greenhorn Manoj Liyangi in the fifth and last round of voting on December 18. Sitting BJP MLA Putkar Hembrom has been denied ticket this time. Others in the fray include Dipak Birua of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and Ghanshyam Gagrai of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
Daltonganj: Dilip Singh Namdhari, son of former Speaker Inder Singh Namdhari, is the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate from Daltonganj assembly constituency of Jharkhand. Anil Kumar Chourasia, who remained the second runner up in previous assembly elections held in 2005, is a Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) nominee. Others in the fray include K N Tripathi of the Congress party, Gyanchand Pandey of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Santosh Kumar from Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM).
Garwah: Sitting Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MLA Girinath Singh is engaged in electoral battle with Mithilesh Thakur of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), Alakhnath Pandey of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Satyendranath Tiwary of JVM (Prajatantrik), supported by the Congress party.
Girinath Singh had been representing this seat in undivided Bihar. His father Gopinath Singh had also represented this assembly constituency.