The third phase of polling for Jharkhand's legislative assembly elections began at 7 am on Thursday, December 12, in 17 constituencies. The polls are being held in five phases to elect 81 members for Jharkhand's Assembly. The voter turnout until 12 pm has been 30.07 percent.
While the polling exercise on five seats - Ranchi, Hatia, Kanke, Ramgarh and Barkatha - will continue from 7 am to 5 pm, voters in the remaining constituencies can vote till 3 pm.
There are a total of 309 candidates, including 32 female, whose fate will be decided by 56,06,743 voters, including 26,73,991 female and 95 third gender. These 17 seats are spread across Ranchi, Hazaribagh, Chatra, Giridih, Bokaro, Koderma and Saraikela.
In the third phase, the key candidates are three ministers- CP Singh, Ramchandra Sahis and Neera Yadav, Former Chief Minister Babulal Marandi and former Deputy Chief Minister and All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) president Sudesh Mahto.
Of the 17 seats, BJP, JMM and Congress had won 10, three and two seats respectively in 2014 Assembly elections.
Voter turnout in second phase
In the second phase of polling, the total voter turnout remained 63.36 percent. One person was killed in firing by security personnel near a polling booth during the polling.
Voter turnout in first phase
The final voter turnout for the first phase of the Jharkhand assembly elections remained 62.87 percent.
