30.23 per cent polling till 11 am in Jharkhand

An estimated 30.23 per cent of the total 66,85,401 voters exercised their franchise till 11 am on Sunday for four Lok Sabha constituencies in Jharkhand, an election official said.

This is the third phase of polling in the state and the country's sixth.

Giridih Lok Sabha constituency registered the maximum 32.24 per cent votes, followed by 30.8 per cent in Singhbhum (ST) seat, 29.33 per cent in Jamshedpur and 29.03 per cent in Dhanbad, an Election Commission release said here.

In Jamshedpur, policemen were seen helping the sick and the differently abled voters cast their votes.

A 106-year-old woman, Pupalata Pal, voted at a booth situated in Rajkiya Kanya Uchh Vidyala in Chaibasa under Singhbhum constitutency.

Pal has been voting in Chaibasa from the first general elections, an official release said.

Polling will be held till 4 pm.

Voters of Singhbhum and Jamshedpur constituencies experienced a cloudy day while weather in Dhanbad and Giridih is moderate, reports said.

Jharkhand Water Resources Minister and Ajsu party leader Chandraprakash Choudhary, three sitting BJP MPs---P N Singh from Dhanbad, B B Mahato from Jamshedpur and Laxman Gilua from Singhbhum constituencies, are among the 67 candidates, including ten women, in the fray.

Choudhary is facing challenge from JMM MLA Jagarnath Mahato in Giridih while BJPs P N Singh is facing Congress candidate Kirti Azad from Dhanbad.

Azad, who had won the Darbhanga seat in Bihar, has been nominated in Dhanbad by the Congress as per the 'Mahagathbandhan' seat sharing adjustment.

Mahato is taking on JMM MLA Champai Soren from Jamshedpur while former chief minister Madhu Kodas wife and Congress candidate, Gita Koda, is vying for the Singhbhum (ST) seat against Gilua, the BJPs state unit president.

The JMM and the Congress are part of the "Mahagathbandhan" (grand alliance) in Jharkhand.

The first two phases for seven Lok Sabha constituencies had concluded on April 29 and May 6 while the fourth and last phase polling will be held on May 19.