All preparations have been completed to conduct the election to two Rajya Sabha seats in Jharkhand on Thursday, for which three candidates are in the fray, an official said.
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The opposition BJP-led NDA decided to support an Independent candidate, despite lacking the required number of MLAs in the assembly.
Three candidates – JMM’s Baidyanath Ram, Congress’s Pranav Jha and BJP-backed Independent nominee Parimal Nathwani – are contesting the polls for the two seats.
The voting will take place between 9 am and 4 pm at a polling station set up within the Jharkhand Assembly premises.
“Once the polling is over, the report will be sent to the Election Commission of India. On the Commission’s permission, the counting of votes will start, tentatively around 5 pm,” Returning Officer Ranjit Kumar told PTI on Wednesday.
Kumar, who is also the secretary of the Jharkhand assembly, said all preparations are in place to hold the polling peacefully.
The returning officer added that adequate security arrangements have been made in the Assembly premises in view of the elections.
Political temperatures are rising in the state capital amid fear of cross-voting.
A candidate is required to secure a minimum of 28 first-preference votes to emerge victorious in the June 18 polls.
The BJP-led NDA has 24 MLAs in the Jharkhand assembly, while the INDIA bloc has 56 members.
The JMM’s Baidyanath Ram is expected to win easily, as the party has adequate numbers in the state assembly.
All eyes are on the second seat, in which a tough fight between Congress’s Jha and NDA-backed Nathwani is likely.
In the Jharkhand Assembly, the INDIA bloc has 56 members, comprising 34 from the JMM, 16 from the Congress, four from the RJD and two from CPI(ML) Liberation.
The NDA has 24 MLAs — 21 from the BJP and one each from the LJP (Ram Vilas), AJSU Party and the JD(U). The Jharkhand Loktantrik Krantikari Morcha has one MLA.
Both the ruling and opposition camps are leaving no stone unturned to keep their MLAs intact ahead of the polling.
The NDA MLAs were shifted to a hotel in Ranchi on Tuesday, while the ruling INDIA bloc is busy holding meetings with its MLAs to thwart chances of cross-voting.
The ruling INDIA bloc MLAs, including those from the Congress, participated in a mock poll during a meeting at Chief Minister Hemant Soren’s residence on Tuesday night to make the new legislators aware of the exercise.
Congress MLA Suresh Baitha said a meeting of ruling party legislators, including those from RJD and CPI(ML) Liberation, was held at a hotel on Wednesday, and they also participated in a mock poll on that occasion.
“We all 56 MLAs of the INDIA bloc are united, and we will win both the Rajya Sabha seats,” he said.
BJP chief whip Naveen Jaiswal also claimed victory for their supported candidate in the election.
One of the Rajya Sabha seats in the state fell vacant following the death of JMM co-founder Shibu Soren. The other vacancy is due to the completion of BJP member Deepak Prakash’s tenure on June 21.
