Jharkhand: 24.02 pc voter turnout till 11 am in Gandey assembly bypoll

Over 24 per cent voter turnout was recorded till 11 am on Monday in the bypoll to the Gandey assembly seat in Jharkhand, officials said.

The bypoll is being held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha elections for three constituencies – Chatra, Hazaribag and Koderma.

Voting started at 7 am in the assembly constituency and will continue till 5 pm.

“The Gandey assembly seat saw 24.02 per cent voter turnout till 11 am,” an official said.

A total of 11 candidates, including Kalpana Soren, the wife of jailed former chief minister Hemant Soren, are in the fray.

The BJP has fielded Dilip Kumar Verma from the Gandey assembly seat.

The seat fell vacant after the resignation of Sarfaraz Ahmad, who was recently elected to the Rajya Sabha unopposed.

Kalpana Soren said she is confident of winning, and people are voting for Hemant Soren as “a strong wave is in his favour”.

''The people have given the mandate against the BJP in the first five phases (of Lok Sabha polls)... The INDIA bloc is going to form government at the Centre,'' she told PTI.