Ranchi: Campaigning for the four Lok Sabha seats in Jharkhand — Singhbhum, Khunti, Lohardaga, and Palamu — ended on Saturday.
In the fourth phase of LS elections scheduled for May 13, which marks the first round of polls in the state, a total of 45 candidates are contesting, with 15 from Lohardaga, 14 from Singhbhum, 9 from Palamu, and 7 from Khunti, with three seats reserved for Scheduled Tribe (ST) and one for Scheduled Caste (SC). Over 64.37 lakh electors, including 32.07 lakh female voters, are eligible to vote in these constituencies, an election official said.
These four seats cover 10 districts and 23 assembly constituencies of the state. On Saturday evening campaigning for this phase ended. There are 45 candidates in the electoral fray from these four Lok Sabha constituencies. These include 4 candidates from Singhbhum, 15 from Lohardaga, 9 from Palamu and 7 from Khunti.
According to the Election Commission data, 64 lakh 37 thousand 460 voters of Jharkhand will exercise their franchise in the fourth phase. There are 32 lakh 29 thousand 480 male voters and 32 lakh 07 thousand 938 female voters. Palamu has the highest number of voters 22 lakh 38 thousand 460. Whereas 14 lahks 36 thousand 351 voters in Lohardaga, 14 lahks 41 thousand 841 voters in Singhbhum, and 13 lahks 20 thousand 808 voters in Khunti will participate in the elections.
Jharkhand has the highest number of polling stations in rural areas for the first phase of elections. There are a total of 7595 polling stations in these four Lok Sabha constituencies, out of which 639 are in urban and 6956 in rural areas. The Election Commission will monitor voting through webcasting from these polling stations. The Election Commission has sent security forces, polling personnel, and election-related materials to these polling stations.
According to the Election Commission data, 1716 polling stations have been made in the Singhbhum area. All the polling stations in Mazgaon, Jagarnathpur, and Manoharpur of this Lok Sabha constituency are in rural areas. 1705 polling stations have been made in Khunti Lok Sabha constituency.
Out of these, only 83 polling stations are in urban areas, while 1622 polling stations are in rural areas. 1748 polling stations have been made in Lohardaga, out of which only 76 polling stations are in the urban area. Whereas, 2427 polling stations have been made in Palamu Lok Sabha. Of these, 230 are in urban areas.