Jharkhand Assembly polls: Preparations in full swing, authorities gear up for peaceful elections

Jamtara/Deoghar (Jharkhand), [India], November 20 (ANI): Preparations for the upcoming Jharkhand Assembly elections are in full swing, with authorities maintaining close oversight of the process.
The Chief Electoral Officer of Jharkhand, K Ravi Kumar, stated that control and monitoring operations are being centrally managed, with district control rooms overseeing polling across 12 districts to ensure a smooth and orderly election.
"Preparations are underway. Monitoring and control are being carried out centrally, and polling is scheduled across 12 districts. District control rooms are closely supervising the process. So far, everything has remained peaceful, and we are committed to maintaining this peace during the upcoming phases. The elections are being held in two phases to ensure tranquillity," he said.
He reassured the public that the electoral process has so far been peaceful, and authorities are focused on maintaining law and order during the polling phases.

Visuals from polling booth number 249 at Government Girls Middle School in Jamtara and booth number 156 at BD College in Deoghar depict ongoing preparations, with officials ensuring all systems are in place ahead of election day.
A total of 528 candidates are contesting for the 38 seats in this phase, including 55 women, one third-gender candidate, and 472 male candidates.
Polling is set to begin at 7 am and will conclude at 5 pm, except at sensitive polling stations where voting will end at 4 pm. Over 1.23 crore voters, including 61 lakh women, are eligible to cast their votes in this phase.
Prominent candidates include Chief Minister Hemant Soren, his wife Kalpana Soren, and his sister-in-law Sita Soren from the JMM. Key BJP candidates in the second phase include former Chief Minister Babulal Marandi, Assembly Speaker Ravindra Nath Mahto (JMM), AJSU Party chief Sudesh Mahto, and Leader of Opposition Amar Kumar Bauri. The election primarily pits the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM)-led alliance against the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). (ANI)