The second and final phase of the Jharkhand elections will be held on November 20 with the remaining 38 out of the 81 seats going to polls.
Jharkhand is voting in two phases and the results of the assembly elections will be declared on November 23, along with that of Maharashtra. The first phase of which was held on November 13.
On Wednesday, voting will be held from 7 am to 5 pm. However, in 31 booths, the voting time will end at 4 pm, though people standing in the queue at that time will be able to vote.
After the voting concludes, all eyes will be on the exit poll predictions for Jharkhand which will give an indication of who may form the next government in the state.
The exit poll predictions are expected to trickle in post-6pm, shortly after the voting concludes in Maharashtra as well.
In Jharkhand, the contest is primarily between the ruling JMM-led INDIA bloc and the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA)
Key factors that are likely to influence the election include the BJP's central welfare schemes and the arrest and subsequent bail of Soren by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The ruling alliance claims the arrest was politically motivated, as Soren was detained in a money laundering case linked to an alleged land fraud.
In the 2019 assembly elections, the contest was close, with the JMM winning 30 seats and the BJP securing 25, down from 37 in 2014. The JMM-Congress-RJD alliance won a comfortable majority with 47 seats.
Star campaigners of both camps including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP president JP Nadda, and Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi canvassed for their respective party nominees during the campaigning.
(With inputs from agencies)
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