Curtains Down on Thrilling Campaign for Jharkhand Lok Sabha Polls

Campaigning concluded for three Lok Sabha seats and the Gandey assembly by-poll in Jharkhand. Over 58.22 lakh electors, including 28.29 lakh women, are eligible to vote on May 20. High-profile rallies by Prime Minister Modi and other prominent leaders marked the campaign's final days.

The curtains came down on Saturday over campaigning for three Lok Sabha seats and Gandey assembly by-poll in Jharkhand. In the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha elections, 22 candidates are contesting from Chatra, 15 from Koderma and 17 from Hazaribag constituencies, which will go to polls on May 20. More than 58.22 lakh electors, including 28.29 lakh women, are eligible to exercise their franchise in the three parliamentary constituencies in the state, while 3.15 lakh are on the voters' list in the Gandey by-poll, an election official said. Jharkhand Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) K Ravi Kumar said campaigning for the second round of Lok Sabha polls in the state ended at 5 pm.

"Dispatch of polling parties has begun. Polling materials and parties were sent to 65 interior booths through choppers in Chatra and Latehar districts," he said.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP had secured all three seats.

Leaders of the BJP and the INDIA bloc made all efforts to galvanise electors' support in their favour.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a rally in Giridih on May 14, campaigning for Union minister Annapurna Devi who is contesting from Koderma Lok Sabha seat. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav and Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya also campaigned for the party's candidates in this phase of the Lok Sabha polls.

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge campaigned in Hazaribag and Latehar, which falls under the Chatra Lok Sabha constituency, for party candidates on May 13. Former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwai Yadav conducted several rallies for INDIA bloc nominees while Jharkhand Chief Minister Champai Soren and Kalpana Soren, wife of jailed former CM Hemant Soren, also hit the campaign trail.

Kalpana Soren did a roadshow in Gandey on Saturday to win voters' confidence two days ahead of the by-poll. The Gandey assembly seat fell vacant after the resignation of Sarfaraz Ahmad, who was recently elected to the Rajya Sabha unopposed.

The BJP has fielded Kalicharan Singh from the Chatra Lok Sabha seat and Manish Jaiswal from Hazaribag. For the INDIA bloc, the Congress has nominated KN Tripathi from the Chatra parliamentary constituency and Jai Prakash Bhai Patel from Hazaribag, while CPI (ML) Liberation has given a ticket to Bagodar MLA Vinod Kumar Singh from the Koderma Lok Sabha seat.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)