Jharkhand 2nd phase polls to be held under tight security

The second phase of polling in Jharkhand will take place in Maoist-affected areas amid tight security.

Polling will take place for four Lok Sabha seats -- Ranchi, Khuti, Hazaribagh and Koderma.

Maoists have good presence in all four seats particularly in Khuti.

According to the police, a total of 225 companies of para-military and state police have been deployed.

The Election Commission is enthused by the first phase of turnout of more than 64 per cent polling.

The polling staff was dispatched by helicopter in remote areas. Three helicopters have been kept in readiness for any eventuality.

A total of 61 candidates are in the race in the four seats -- 14 in Koderma, 20 in Ranchi, 11 in Khunti and 16 in Hazaribagh.

A total of 65,87,028 voters are eligible to vote across 8,834 polling booths.

The fate of two former Chief Ministers -- Arjun Munda, Babulal Marandi -- and Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha will be decided in the second phase.

The prominent candidates who are in the fray include Marandi, Rajkumar Yadav of the Communist Party of India-Marxist-Leninist and the Bharatiya Janata Party's Annapurna Devi in Koderma; Sanjay Seth of the BJP and Subodhkant Sahai of the Congress in Ranchi; Munda of the BJP and Kalicharan Munda of the Congress in Khunti; and Sinha of the BJP, Gopal Sahu of Congress and Bhuneshwar Prasad Mehta of the CPI in Hazaribagh.

--IANS

ns/ksk