Jharkhand CM Raghubar Das casts his vote, expresses confidence of victory

Chief Minister Raghbar Das cast his vote in the second phase of Assembly elections on Saturday and expressed confidence of his victory.

Speaking to ANI here, the Chie Minister appealed to the people of the state to actively participate in the voting.

"I appeal to the people of the state to participate in this festival of democracy," he said.

Exuding confidence to get the second stint, he said: "I believe we have been successful in establishing a better government in the last five years for which we will be rewarded."

Till 3 pm, a voter turnout of 59.27 per cent has been recorded in the second phase of elections, the Election Commission's data show.

In this phase of the election, over 48 lakh voters have been exercising their franchise.

Earlier in the day, one person died and three others were injured during firing by security forces outside a polling booth in Gumla, said Vishnu Dev Chaudhary, police in-charge Sisai Gumla district.

Due to security reasons, polling at 18 constituencies, barring Jamshedpur East and Jamshedpur West, will be held between 7 am and 3 pm. In the other two Assembly seats, the voters can cast their ballot till 5 pm.

Jharkhand, which has 81-member Assembly, is undergoing polling in five phases.

The first phase of election in the state had taken place on November 30. The voting for the third phase will be conducted on December 12, the fourth phase on December 16, and the fifth and last phase on December 20.

The counting of votes will take place on December 23.