2nd phase poll in Jharkhand: Two ex-CMs Arjun Munda and Madhu Koda's fate to be decided

Ranchi, Dec 1: The fate of two former chief ministers, a minister and a bureaucrat will be decided Tuesday in the second of the five-phase Jharkhand assembly election.

Polling will take place in 20 of the 81 constituencies. Balloting will take place in 5,051 polling booths.

A total of 223 candidates are in the fray. Their fate will be decided by 44,13,716 voters - of which 22,48,331 are males and 21,65,379 females.

Arjun Munda and Madhu Koda, two former chief ministers are contesting from Seraikela and Majhgao seats, respectively. Munda has been the legislator from Seraikela since 1995.

Koda's wife Geeta Koda is also contesting the polls from Jagganthpur seat. Bharatiya Janata Party's national vice president Raghubar Das is contesting from Jamshedpur East, the constituency he has been representing since 1995.

Both Munda and Das are in race for the chief minister's post if the BJP comes to power.

BJP's Saryu Rai is fighting from Jamshedpur West and is pitted against state minister Banna Gupta of the Congress.

J.B. Tubid, who was the cabinet secretary and took voluntary retirement to join the BJP, is contesting from Chaibasa.

In the second phase, 17 of the 20 seats are reserved for Scheduled Tribes. The BJP had won eight of the seats in the 2009 assembly polls.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed two rallies in the state for the second phase of balloting. Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice president Rahul Gandhi also addressed rallies.

Some seats will witness direct contest between the BJP and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) while some will see a triangular fight among the BJP, the JMM and the Congress.

IANS