An estimated 44.65 per cent of over 47 lakh electorate cast their votes till 1 pm Monday in the fourth phase of Jharkhand Assembly elections in 15 constituencies, Election Commission (EC) officials said. Polling, which began at 7 am, is going on peacefully in the constituencies spread over Giridih, Deoghar, Dhanbad and Bokaro districts, they said. Voting will end at 3 pm at Jamua, Bagodar, Giridih, Dumri, and Tundi while the exercise will continue till 5 pm in the remaining seats, they said. Meanwhile, voters at booth numbers 50 and 51 in Jamua constituency of Giridih district, told reporters that they were not willing to vote due to "lack" of development in the area.
The officials were trying to convince them about the importance of exercising their democratic rights. The seats going for polls in this phase are Deoghar (SC), Jamua (SC), Chandankiyari (SC), Madhupur, Bagodar, Gandey, Giridih, Dumri, Bokaro, Sindri, Nirsa, Dhanbad, Jharia, Tundi and Baghmara spread across four districts. A total of 47,85,009 voters, including 22,44,134 women and 81 third-gender people, are eligible to decide the fate of 221 nominees in this phase.
The fifth and final phase of Jharkhand polls for sixteen seats will be held on December 20. The counting process has been scheduled for December 23.
BJP has nominated candidates in all the 15 seats
