Over 65L J'khand voters to seal fate of 61 nominees on May 6

Union Minister Jayant Sinha, former chief minister Arjun Munda and ex-MLA Kalicharan Munda are among the 61 candidates whose fate will be sealed in the second phase of elections in Jharkhand.

Polling will be held between 7 am and 4 pm Monday amid tight security in four Lok Sabha constituencies -Hazaribagh, Koderma, Ranchi and Khunti (ST) - where over 65 lakh electorate is set to exercise their franchise in 8,834 polling stations, an election official said.

While Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha is seeking a re-election from Hazaribag, BJP candidate Arjun Munda is taking on Kalicharan Munda of the Congress in Khunti constituency.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Union Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu were among those who campaigned for Sinha in Hazaribag.

Sinha is pitted against Congress leader and 'Mahagathbandhan' candidate Gopal Sahu.

Among others constesting Monday's election from the seat is CPI's state unit secretary and former MP B P Mehta.

In Khunti, apart from Kalicharan Munda of the Congress and Arjun Munda of the BJP, 11 candidates are contesting the polls, including Indumati Mundu of the BSP.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi had visited the constituency on May 2 to seek votes in favour of his party nominee from the seat.

Barring Sinha from Hazaribag, the BJP has replaced all its sitting MPs in the second phase of polls.

The saffron party has fielded Sanjay Seth from Ranchi and Annapurna Devi from Koderma, replacing five-time MP Ramtahal Chaudhary and outgoing parliamentarian Ravindra Rai respectively.

Chaudhary is contesting the polls as an independent after being denied ticket by the BJP.

Annapurna Devi, who quit the RJD and joined the saffron party on March 25, is pitted against Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) president Babulal Marandi and CPI-ML (Liberation) legislator Raj Kumar Yadav.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had canvassed for Annapurna Devi in Koderma on April 29.

Seth, on the other hand, is taking on former union minister and Congress candidate Subodh Kant Sahay in Ranchi parliamentary constituency.

Of the 65,87,028 electorate, 31,44,679 are female and 83 belong to the third gender, the election official said.

At least 918 out of 8,834 polling stations will have webcasting facilities, he said.

The Election Commission has appointed 39,909 polling personnel and 1,191 micro observers for Monday's election, the official added.