44.72% polling recorded in Jharkhand (3rd Lead) (1 p.m.)

Jharkhand on Sunday recorded 44.72 per cent polling till 1 p.m. for four of the 14 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state.

Giridih recorded 45.55 per cent voter turnout, Dhanbad 40.92, Jamshedpur 47.34 and Singhbhum or Chaibasa 46.35 per cent.

Voting began at 7 a.m. and will end at 4 p.m. Nearly 67 lakh voters are eligible to vote during the day. More than 200 companies of security forces have been deployed at 8,300 polling booths.

Jharkahnd Mukti Morcha (JMM) President Shibu Soren voted in Bokaro. Chief Minister Raghubar Das voted along with his family members at Jamshedpur.

In this third phase of polling in Jharkhand, there are 67 candidates.

The battle in Giridih is between All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) nominee and state Water Resources Minister Chandraprakash Chowdhary and Jagannath Mahto of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM).

In Dhanbad, P.N. Singh of the BJP is taking on Kirti Azad, the BJP-rebel nominated by the Congress.

In the steel city of Jamshedpur, the contest is between Vidyut Baran Mahto of the BJP and Champai Soren of the JMM. In Singhbhum, Laxman Giluwa of the BJP is pitted against Geeta Koda of the Congress.

--IANS

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