Jharkhand: Mandar assembly bypoll results on Sunday, candidates keep fingers crossed

With barely a few hours to go for the counting of votes polled in the by-election to the Mandar assembly seat in Jharkhand's Ranchi district, candidates are keeping their fingers crossed.

The counting will begin at 8 am on Sunday amid tight security arrangements. The Election Commission has completed all the preparations, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) K Ravi Kumar said.

"All arrangements for the counting have been completed. It will begin at 8 am and trends are expected to come within an hour," he told PTI.

The by-election to the Mandar seat was held on June 23. Altogether 61.25 per cent of around 3.50 lakh voters exercised their franchise, and the electoral fate of 14 candidates was sealed in EVMs.

Albert Bilung, who has been appointed as the returning officer for the by-poll, said that counting will be held under three-tier security cover.

"A total of 21 counting tables will be used and 63 poll officials will be deployed. A maximum of 21 rounds of counting will take place," he said.

"At first, postal ballots will be counted. From 8.30 am, the EVMs will be opened. The first round is expected to be completed by 9 am. We hope to declare the final results by 8 pm on Sunday," he said.

The by-election was necessitated after the disqualification of Bandhu Tirkey as an MLA in the wake of his conviction in a corruption case. A special CBI court in Jharkhand had on March 28 sentenced Tirkey to three years imprisonment.

The Congress has fielded his daughter, Shilpi Neha Tirkey, as the common candidate of the ruling JMM-led coalition, while the BJP has nominated former legislator Gangotri Kujur in the seat. The Congress and the RJD are the two other constituents of the ruling alliance in Jharkhand.

Independent candidate Dev Kumar Dhan, backed by Asaduddin Owaisi's All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), is also in the fray.

In 2019, the BJP had fielded Dhan for the Mandar assembly seat after denying a ticket to its sitting legislator Kujur. Dhan lost to JVM-P's Bandhu Tirkey by more than 23,000 votes.

The three top contenders for the by-poll exuded confidence that they will win.

Kujur hoped that people have voted for the BJP in large numbers, while Tirkey said she has complete faith that voters exercised their franchise for justice to Bandhu Tirkey. Dhan said he hoped that electors have voted against the two national parties.