Ranchi: Jharkhand is poised for a crucial first phase of assembly elections on Wednesday, November 13th, with tight security measures in place to ensure a fair and peaceful voting process in the state.
Returning Officer for Ranchi Assembly constituency, Utkarsh Kumar, highlighted the preparations made by the administration to conduct peaceful polls. Earlier in the day polling parties for all 374 polling booths gathered at the district headquarters to collect polling material. The staff left for their respective booths in GPS-tracked vehicles.
According to eh Kumar, the mock poll will begin at 5.30 am on Wednesday, after which polling process will start. The administration has made arrangement of all the basic facilities including drinking water, toilets, and web-casting facilities at all polling stations and all the rules and regulations laid down by the Election Commission have been enforced on the ground, he added.
The first phase will see voting in 43 constituencies, encompassing 17 general seats, 20 reserved for Scheduled Tribes (ST), and 6 for Scheduled Castes (SC). The remaining 38 constituencies will go to polls in the second phase on November 20th, with the vote count scheduled for November 23rd.
The state’s political landscape has been marked by instability and frequent changes in leadership since its inception in 2000. However, the last two elections, in 2014 and 2019, witnessed a change, with Raghubar Das leading the BJP to a full term followed by Hemant Soren leading a stable JMM government, with the exception of a six-month period when he was arrested in a land scam case.
Soren’s rise to power in 2019 was fueled by widespread discontent among Adivasis towards the BJP government’s amendments to the Chota Nagpur Tenancy Act and Santhal Pargana Tenancy Act, and the creation of land banks for industrial and mining units. These moves were perceived as a threat to Adivasi rights over traditional resources, and they rallied behind the JMM-Congress alliance to deny the BJP a second term.
With Adivasis (27%) and Muslims (14%) constituting nearly 41% of Jharkhand’s population, their concentrated voting power holds significant influence, particularly in the south Chotanagpur plateau and the Santhal Pargana regions. The Adivasis also form a majority in the Kolhan region. The first phase will witness voting in these key constituencies:
1. Kodarma
2. Barkatha
3. Barhi
4. Barkagaon
5. Hazaribagh
6. Simaria (SC)
7. Chatra (SC)
8. Baharagora
9. Ghatsila (ST)
10. Potka (ST)
11. Jugsalai (SC)
12. Jamshedpur East
13. Jamshedpur West
14. Ichagarh
15. Seraikella (ST)
16. Chaibasa (ST)
17. Majhgaon (ST)
18. Jaganathpur (ST)
19. Manoharpur (ST)
20. Chakradharpur (ST)
21. Kharsawan (ST)
22. Tamar (ST)
23. Torpa (ST)
24. Khunti (ST)
25. Ranchi
26. Hatia
27. Kanke (SC)
28. Mandar (ST)
29. Sisai (ST)
30. Gumla (ST)
31. Bishunpur (ST)
32. Simdega (ST)
33. Kolebira (ST)
34. Lohardaga (ST)
35. Manika (ST)
36. Latehar (SC)
37. Panki
38. Daltonganj
39. Bishrampur
40. Chhatarpur (SC)
41. Hussainabad
42. Garhwa
43. Bhawanathpur
