57.13 per cent turnout recorded till 4pm in Jharkhand

An estimated 57.13 per cent of 45.26 lakh electorate cast their votes as polling officially ended at 4pm on Monday in three Lok Sabha constituencies of Jharkhand in the first phase of the staggered elections in the state, an official said.

The turnout is likely to go up as voters who have entered the premises of the polling stations before 4 pm will be allowed to exercise their franchise, he said.

Polling has largely been peaceful in the three parliamentary constituencies - Lohardaga (ST), Palamu (SC) and Chatra - with no untoward incident reported from anywhere, the official said.

"Barring a few instances of EVM glitches, which were taken care of by the polling officials, the first phase of elections in the state were peaceful," he said.

Women voters were seen queuing up several booths, even before the voting process began at 7 am.

Ranchi Sadar Sub-divisional officer Garima Singh presented a citation to a woman, who became the first voter to turn up at a booth in Lohardaga seat, the official said.

Braving the summer heat, a 94-year-old man arrived on a cot at a booth of Chhatra seat to cast his vote.

A total of 45,26,693 eligible electorate, including 21,40,750 women and four of the third gender, sealed the fate of 59 candidates in 6,072 polling stations of the three seats.

Prominent among those in the fray are Union Minister of State for Tribal Affairs and BJP's Lohardaga candidate Sudarshan Bhagat, who is pitted against Congress MLA and Mahagathbandhan' candidate Sukhdeo Bhagat.