The stakes are high for Hemant Soren and Babulal Marandi as Jharkhand votes in the final stages today | India News – Times of India

RANCHI: The political fate of Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren and state BJP president Babulal Marandi will be decided on wednesday if over 1.23 crore voters in 12 districts including the tribal heartland of Santhal Pargana and the coal belt of Dhanbad, will cast their votes in the second and final phase of the state assembly elections.
A total of 528 candidates – 472 men, 55 women and one candidate from the transgender community – are competing for 38 parliamentary seats.
Among the prominent participants are CM Soren, BJP’s Marandi, Gandey MLA and Soren’s wife, Kalpana Murmu Soren, former minister Basant Soren, AJSU-P president Sudesh Kumar Mahto, Leader of Opposition Amar Kumar Bauri, important ministers like Dipika Pandey Singh, Bebi Devi, Hafizul Hassan and speaker Rabindranath Mahto.
The vote follows a week of intense campaigning after the first phase, which saw elections in 43 constituencies on November 13. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Congress MP and LoP MP in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge addressed rallies across the state.
Hemant Soren YMM faces a tough challenge in defending the fourteen seats it won in the last elections. The BJP focuses on making gains in tribal-dominated areas and relies on its rhetoric around illegal immigrants from Bangladesh settling in the state. Congress will aim to retain its six seats while AJSU-P is targeting three constituencies in this phase.
“In this phase, voting will be held at more than 14,000 booths. Polling stations start at 7am and end at 5pm. Due to security concerns, voting will end earlier at 31 sensitive polling booths,” said state Chief Electoral Officer K. Ravi Kumar. The votes will be counted on November 23.