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Polling will be held tomorrow in 17 seats in Jharkhand in the third leg of the five-phase Assembly election where voters will decide the fate of 289 candidates, including former Jharkhand chief minister Babulal Marandi, ex-Speaker C P Singh and three ministers.
Voting will begin at 7 a.m tomorrow in the 17 constituencies spread across eight districts amid tight security. It will end at 3 p.m in 14 constituencies while the exercise will carry on till 5 p.m in Ranchi, Hatia and Kanke constituencies.
Polling for 33 of the 81 seats was concluded on November 25 and December 2 with a turnout pf 61.92% and 64.68% respectively.
Marandi, who became the first chief minister of the state after resigning from the erstwhile Atal Bihari Vajpayee council of ministers on November 15, 2000, is locked in a tight contest at Dhanwar constituency which was won by his Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) candidate Nizzamudin Ansari in the 2009 Assembly elections.
Ansari filed nomination on a JMM ticket but his papers were invalid following his conviction in a murder case.
Eight MLAs are seeking re-elections in this phase, having 103 independent candidates out of a total of 289, including 26 women.
The constituencies going to the poll are: Kodarma, Barkatha, Barhi, Barkagaon, Ramgarh, Mandu, Hazaribagh, Simaria (SC), Dhanwar, Gomia, Bermo, Ichagarh, Silli, Khijri (ST), Ranchi, Hatia and Kanke (SC).
They are spread over eight districts - Ranchi, Hazaribagh, Bokaro, Chatra, Seraikella/Kharsawan, Ramgarh, Kodarma and Giridih.
