INDIA or NDA? 43 Jharkhand seats up for grabs in high-stakes Phase 1 polling today

The stage is set for the first phase of the Jharkhand Assembly elections, which will take place on November 13, covering 43 constituencies out of the state’s 81 seats. The remaining constituencies in Jharkhand will go to the polls seven days later, coinciding with the elections for all 288 Assembly seats in Maharashtra.
Voters in 43 Assembly constituencies across 15 districts are set to cast their ballots tomorrow, with polls open from 7 am to 5 pm. Across these constituencies, 683 candidates are in the fray for legislative seats, which include 17 general, 20 reserved for Scheduled Tribes, and six reserved for Scheduled Castes.
In total, 15,344 polling stations have been set up across the state.
According to the Election Commission of India (ECI), over 200 security force companies have been stationed at key locations to ensure order and safeguard the electoral process. In this phase, 683 candidates, including 73 women, are competing for seats.
The ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), a member of the opposition’s INDIA bloc, will face off against the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). The NDA allies in Jharkhand Assembly polls are All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) and Janata Dal (United), while the INDIA bloc is represented by JMM, Congress, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Left parties.
In the 2019 Jharkhand Assembly election, Hemant Soren-led JMM won 30 seats, the BJP won 25 and Congress won 16 seats. A coalition of the JMM, Congress, and the Rashtriya Janata Dal formed the governmen, with Soren assuming the role of Chief Minister.
Key politicians whose fate will be decided in the first phase of Jharkhand polls include former Chief Minister Champai Soren, Health Minister Banna Gupta, Rajya Sabha MP Mahua Maji, Geeta Koda (wife of ex-Chief Minister Madhu Koda), and Purnima Das, daughter-in-law of former Chief Minister Raghubar Das.
Polling across 43 constituencies will start at 7 am with 15,344 polling stations set up across the state. Of these, 12,716 stations are in rural areas and 2,628 in urban centers. Voting will generally conclude by 5 pm, except at 950 locations where polling will end at 4 pm. However, voters already in line at closing time will still be permitted to vote.
The poll body has said that 1,152 polling stations will be managed exclusively by women, and 24 stations will be staffed by handicapped personnel. Chief Electoral Officer K Ravi Kumar, while speaking to reporters, said that since the Model Code of Conduct came into effect, authorities have seized illegal goods and cash worth Rs 179.14 crore, and 54 cases of alleged violations have been registered.