The first of the five-phase polling began in 13 assembly constituencies in Jharkhand on Saturday. Oraon is taking on the former state Congress chief Sukhdeo Bhagat after the latter joined the BJP recently. Challenging the BJP is the opposition alliance of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), the Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal. While the Congress is contesting in six seats in the first phase, the JMM is fighting in four and the RJD in three constituencies in the first phase. Jharkhand Chief Electoral Officer Vinay Kumar Choubey said a total of 4,892 polling stations have been set up, out of which 1,262 would have webcasting facilities.’Additional Director General of Police and state police Nodal Officer Murari Lal Meena said a total of 1,097 polling stations in Naxal-affected areas were marked as hypersensitive and 461 polling stations as sensitive.

Source: Huffington Post November 30, 2019 03:22 UTC