A turnout of 64.86% was registered till 5 pm on Wednesday in the first phase of the Jharkhand Assembly election.

The Lohardaga district had the highest polling percentage at 73.21%, while Hazaribagh had the lowest figure at 59.13%.

Voting for 43 seats is underway in the first phase, with 683 candidates in the fray.

Polling began at 7 am and will go till 5 pm in most places. At 950 booths, voting will end at 4 pm, reported PTI.

Among the prominent candidates whose fate will be decided on Wednesday is former Chief Minister Champai Soren, who is contesting on a Bharatiya Janata Party ticket from Seraikela against the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha’s Ganesh Mahli.

Champai Soren, formerly a Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader, had served as the chief minister for 152 days when party leader Hemant Soren was in jail. Champai Soren resigned from the top post on July 3, and crossed over to the BJP less than two months later on August 30.

Other prominent candidates in the fray on Wednesday are the BJP’s Geeta Kora, the Congress’ Rameshwar Oraon and the Janata Dal (United)’s Saryu Roy.

A total of 15,344 polling stations have been set up for 1.37 crore eligible voters to cast their ballot in the first phase of the elections.

Voting for the second phase of Jharkhand Assembly polls will be held on November 20. The counting of votes will take place on November 23, alongside that of the Maharashtra Assembly elections.

Wayanad reports 60.79% turnout

Voting is also underway for bye-polls in Kerala’s Wayanad Lok Sabha seat and 33 Assembly seats across 11 states.

A turnout of 60.79% was reported from Wayanad till 5 pm.

Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is making her electoral debut from Wayanad, a seat previously held by her brother Rahul Gandhi.

In the 2024 general elections, Rahul Gandhi won from Wayanad as well as Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh. He chose to retain the Rae Bareli seat, because of which bye-elections were necessitated in Wayanad.

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is facing the Communist Party of India’s Sathyan Mokeri and BJP candidate Navya Haridas in the polls.

Assembly bye-elections are being held on seven seats in Rajasthan, six in West Bengal, five in Assam, four in Bihar, three in Karnataka, two in Madhya Pradesh and one each in Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Kerala and Meghalaya.

Bye-election results for two seats in Sikkim – Soreng-Chakung and Namchi-Singhithang – have already been declared. Sikkim Krantikari Morcha candidates Aditya Golay and Satish Chandra Rai were on October 30 elected unopposed to the Assembly after the opposing candidates withdrew their nominations.