Peaceful voting is going on in the first phase of the Jharkhand Assembly elections, covering 43 out of 81 constituencies. The polling began at 7 am today. 

Long queues were spotted in polling booths in areas inhabited by minority communities - Muslims and Christians in Ranchi where JMM’s Mahua Maji is struggling to defeat BJP’s CP Singh.

As many as 683 candidates are in the fray for legislative seats, which include 17 general, 20 reserved for Scheduled Tribes, and six reserved for Scheduled Castes. 

In the 2019 Jharkhand Assembly election, Hemant Soren-led JMM won 30 seats, the BJP won 25 and Congress won 16 seats.