Second phase of Jharkhand panchayat polls begins

RANCHI - Polling for the second phase of panchayat elections began in Jharkhand Monday morning amid tight security arrangements, an official here said.

The elections began at 7 a.m. and voters were seen queueing at the polling booths despite the boycott call by Maoists.

More than 700 companies of paramilitary troopers and state police have been deployed and three helicopters are doing air surveillance to ensure peaceful polling, the official said.

In the second phase, voting is taking place in 1,292 panchayats of 71 blocks of 23 districts. A total of 47,406 candidates are in the fray whose fate will be decided by 4,292,969 voters.

The five-phase panchayat elections began Nov 27.

The last panchayat polls took place in 1979 when Jharkhand was part of Bihar. The polls were delayed due to legal battle over reservations for tribals.