Ranchi: Jharkhand is geared up for polling in 38 of the total 81 assembly seats in the second and final phase on Wednesday, when the electoral fate of 528 candidates, including Chief Minister Hemant Soren, his wife Kalpana Soren both (both JMM) and Leader of Opposition Amar Kumar Bauri (BJP) will be decided.

The ruling JMM-led INDIA bloc and the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance are engaged in a fierce battle in the elections in the state, the first phase of which was held on November 13.

Polling is scheduled to begin at 7 am in 14,218 polling stations and will continue till 5 pm barring 31 booths where it will end at 4 pm. A total of 1.23 crore voters including 60.79 lakh women and 147 third gender voters are eligible to vote on Wednesday. Altogether 528 candidates – 472 men, 55 women and a third gender person – are in the fray.

The JMM-led coalition is seeking to retain power riding on its welfare schemes, while the saffron party has raised the election pitch raising the issues of Hindutva, “infiltration from Bangladesh and corruption” of the current dispensation.

Eighteen of the 38 constituencies are in the Santhal Pargana region comprising six districts – Godda, Deoghar, Dumka, Jamtara, Sahibganj and Pakur. The NDA has been alleging during electioneering that large-scale infiltration took place in Santhal Pargana during the past five years of the JMM-led regime.

Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) K Ravi Kumar said all preparations for voting have been completed and polling personnel for all the booths have been despatched peacefully.

Since the implementation of the Model Code of Conduct, about Rs 200 crore worth of illegal materials and cash have been seized, which is the highest in the recent past.

Kumar said that 90 cases pertaining to violation of the model code of conduct (MCC) violation were recorded.

Out of the 38 seats, eight are reserved for scheduled tribes and three for scheduled castes.

Of the total 14,218 polling stations, the responsibility of the entire voting process at 239 polling stations will be in the hands of women while 22 booths will be manned by persons with disabilities (PwDs), the CEO said.

Besides CM Soren and his wife, prominent among the candidates include state BJP president and ex-CM Babulal Marandi, Assembly Speaker Ravindra Nath Mahto (JMM) and BJP ally AJSU Party chief Sudesh Mahto.

Top BJP leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, BJP present JP Nadda and chief ministers of several states addressed a number of rallies where they attacked the JMM-led coalition over corruption and infiltration.

INDIA bloc leaders including Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, party president Mallikarjun Kharge, Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren and his wife and legislator Kalpana Soren campaigned extensively, promising welfare schemes and accusing the BJP-led Centre of “unleashing” ED and CBI against the rival parties.

There are 28 reserved seats for ST candidates and nine for SC contestants.

Of the SC seats, JMM won 2, BJP 6 and RJD 1 in the 2019 polls. In ST reserved seats, JMM was victorious in 19, Congress in 6, BJP 2 and JVM(P) 1.

This time, as far as NDA is concerned, BJP has fielded candidates in 68 seats while allies AJSU Party in 10, JD(U) in two and Lok Janshakti (Ram Vilas) in one.

Of the INDIA bloc, JMM has fielded candidates in 43 seats, Congress 30, RJD 6 and CPI(ML) 4 with friendly fights on some seats.

In the 2019 assembly elections, the contest was close, with the JMM winning 30 seats and the BJP securing 25, down from 37 in 2014. The JMM-Congress-RJD alliance won a comfortable majority with 47 seats.