Ranchi: The stage is set for the second and final round of the electoral battle in Jharkhand on Wednesday. Voting for 38 seats will begin at 7 am. The JMM-Congress-RJD alliance will try to retain power in Jharkhand while the BJP-led NDA will try to form the government. The final phase will decide the electoral fate of Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, his wife Kalpana Soren, and Leader of Opposition Amar Kumar Bauri (BJP) as well as more than 500 other candidates.  

 Babulal Marandi and Speaker Ravindra Nath Mahato are also in the electoral fray.

Apart from CM Soren and his wife, prominent candidates in this round include state BJP president and former CM Babulal Marandi, Assembly Speaker Rabindra Nath Mahto (JMM) and BJP ally AJSU Party chief Sudesh Mahto.

Voting will continue till 5 pm.

According to information, voting will begin at 7 am on Wednesday at 14,218 polling stations and will continue till 5 pm. Out of these, voting will end at 4 pm at 31 polling stations. A total of 1.23 crore voters, including 60.79 lakh women, are eligible to vote on Wednesday. A total of 528 candidates - 472 men, 55 women, and one transgender - are in the fray. Of the 38 seats where voting is being held in the final round, eighteen are in the Santhal Pargana region, which includes six districts - Godda, Deoghar, Dumka, Jamtara, Sahibganj,, and Pakur.

BJP-JMM raised these issues

The JMM-led coalition is trying to retain power based on its welfare schemes, while the BJP has entered the electoral fray by raising the issues of Hindutva, infiltration from Bangladesh, and corruption of the current government. On the other hand, the ruling government tried to woo voters by promising welfare schemes.

Chief Electoral Officer K. Ravi Kumar said that all preparations for polling have been completed and polling personnel have been dispatched to all booths. He said that since the implementation of the Model Code of Conduct, illegal material and cash worth about Rs 200 crore have been seized so far. Kumar said that 90 cases related to violation of the Model Code of Conduct were registered.