Jharkhand polls: Over 13 pc polling recorded till 9 am

Over 13 per cent of voters cast their ballot till 9 am on Saturday in the second phase of Jharkhand Assembly polls covering 20 constituencies, including Jamshedpur East and West.

"13.03 per cent voting recorded till 9 am in the second phase of polling in Jharkhand," the Election Commission official's website data said.

Earlier today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged voters to make the festival of democracy successful by coming out to vote in maximum numbers.

In this phase of the election, over 48 lakh voters will be exercising their democratic franchise.Jharkhand's Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Vinay Kumar Choubey, has informed that 6,066 polling booths have been set up to facilitate voting.

The key leaders who are contesting in this phase of polling include Chief Minister Raghubar Das from Jamshedpur (East) seat, state Assembly speaker Dinesh Oraon and BJP state unit chief Laxman Guila.

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 votes till 5 pm.

Other constituencies where polling is underway are Khunti, Mandar, Sisai, Majhgaon, Manoharpur, Saraikela, Chaibasa, Baharagora, Ghatsila, Potka, Simdega, Kolebira, Kharsawaan, Tamar, Jagannathpur and Torpa.

Six of these Assembly constituencies witnessing polling are located in East Singhbum district where the district administration and senior police officers have taken all preventive measures to conduct the poll in a peaceful and fair manner.

The first phase of election in the state had concluded on November 30. Voting for the third phase will be conducted on December 12 after which there will be two more phases and the results will be declared on December 23.