The first phase of the Assembly elections recorded 64.44 per cent polling in the 13 Assembly constituencies that voted on Saturday, even though suspected Maoists guerrillas tried to blow up a bridge in the morning.
In the 2014 Assembly elections these constituencies, all affected Left-wing extremism affected, had recorded 63.29 per cent polling.
Suspected CPI(Maoist) rebels in the morning tried to destroy the Kaththokwa bridge, on the bordering area of Ghaghra and Hapad villages under Bishunpur police station in Gumla district.
An Election Commission communiqué said a low-intensity IED (improvised explosive device) blast was carried out near a bridge by some local sympathiser of Maoists. Forces were present in the area and polling was conducted peacefully, added the communiqué signed by undersecretary-rank official Pawan Diwan. The locality where the blast was triggered is under Bishunpur Assembly constituency, and 2km from a polling booth.
'The explosion could not cause even minor damage to the bridge,' said Gumla superintendent of police Anjani Kumar Jha. 'Polling remained unaffected. I came to know that the polling booth has the highest polling percentage among the booths of this constituency. Additional forces were deployed. Criminal elements were trying to terrorise voters to stay away from voting but people exercised their right to vote. Among the 13 seats, Lohardaga recorded maximum polling of 71.47 per cent.
Jharkhand chief electoral officer Vinay Kumar Chaubey said the turnout figure was 1.15 percentage points more than the last Assembly elections in 2014.
'The figures may vary slightly when the booth-wise tally will be made available,' he said. 'This was also an incident-free election and it went off peacefully, barring just three minor incidents. There was a blast at Kawadanr village in Lohardaga on Friday night that caused no harmThe third incident -- apart from the blasts -- was the one in which police detained the Congress's Daltonganj candidate, K.N. Tripathi, for brandishing a gun at a booth after he was allegedly prevented by BJP supporters and his vehicle was damaged.
'Two FIRs have been lodged in connection with the Daltonganj incident and the authorities were directed to get the pistol deposited,' Chaubey said.
'With 4,162 of the total 4,892 booths identified as sensitive, the election of this phase was in a difficult area,' he pointed out.
Considering the terrain, 1,269 polling teams were dispatched two days in advance and will return on Sunday, he said. Four helicopters were pressed into service for dropping 440 polling personnel at remote locations and five choppers will be used for lifting them back, he added.
Highly placed sources said the booth where Tripathi was allegedly stopped had only home-guard jawans in violation of norms.
Chaubey said that in the next four phases of the state elections, cases of individuals possessing licensed weapons will be reviewed.
Before elections, licensed firearms owners have to deposit their weapons with the district administration.
'He was given an exemption,' Chaubey said when asked how Tripathi had his gun.
'There is a three-member committee at the district level comprising senior officials that reviews such cases and grants exemptions to such institutions and individuals who can retain their licensed weapons,' Chaubey explained.
He added that those committees have now been directed to review afresh, indicating that candidates or other individuals in the areas that are yet to vote may not get any exemptions..
