Ranchi, Feb 22 : Polling for elections to 48 urban local bodies (ULBs) across Jharkhand will be held on Monday, with authorities completing all preparations and putting elaborate security arrangements in place, officials said.
Voting will take place from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., with over 43.43 lakh voters eligible to exercise their franchise. The counting of votes will be taken up on February 27. Campaigning for the polls ended at 5 p.m. on Saturday.
State Election Commission (SEC) secretary Radhe Shyam Prasad said polling parties were dispatched on Sunday morning. “The polling parties have been dispatched on Sunday morning and they are expected to reach their respective destinations by this evening. Many of them have already reached,” he said.
Elections will be conducted for the posts of mayor, chairperson and councillor in 1,042 wards across nine municipal corporations, 20 nagar parishads and 19 nagar panchayats.
Out of 1,087 wards in 48 ULBs, polling will be held in 1,042 wards as 41 councillors have already been elected unopposed, while three wards remained vacant due to no nominations. Election in one ward of Mango Municipal Corporation has been cancelled following the death of a candidate, Prasad said.
As many as 562 candidates, including 235 women, are in the fray for the posts of mayor and chairperson. For ward councillor posts, 5,562 candidates, including 2,727 women, are contesting.
A total of 4,307 polling booths have been set up across the state, of which 896 have been identified as hyper-sensitive and 2,445 as sensitive. “Adequate security arrangements have been ensured in each booth across 48 ULBs in the state,” Prasad said.
The ULB polls in Jharkhand are not being contested on party symbols, though candidates are backed by various political outfits.
In the state capital Ranchi, 11 candidates are contesting for the post of mayor, while 167 aspirants are in the fray for 53 ward councillor posts. A total of 909 polling booths have been set up in Ranchi, and 422 wheelchairs have been arranged to facilitate elderly and physically challenged voters.
Ranchi Deputy Commissioner Manjunath Bhajantri said, “All preparations are in place for the election on Monday.”
