Ranchi : A third of the voters cast their ballot Tuesday in the third round of the five-phase state assembly elections in Jharkhand.
Despite the cold, people came out from their homes to cast votes and a good turnout was witnessed.
According to an Election Commission official, around 30 percent polling took place till 11 a.m.
Long queues of voters, including first-timers, were seen at polling booths. The voter turnout in urban areas was good.
Ranchi witnessed around 32 percent polling in the initial hours.
The Silli constituency witnessed more 43 percent voting followed by Koderma where over 36 percent voter turnout was recorded.
Former external affairs Minister and senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha cast his vote in Hazaribagh.
The Election Commission officials expect around 70 percent polling in this phase in the state.
Balloting began Tuesday at 7 a.m. in 17 of the 81 assembly constituencies.
Over 50 lakh voters, including 23.5 lakh women, will decide the political fate of 289 candidates in the fray. Polling is taking place at 5,865 polling booths.
Voting will end at 3 p.m. in 15 constituencies while balloting will continue till 5 p.m. in two others.
Former chief minister Babulal Marandi, former assembly speaker C.P. Singh, Jharkhand Ministers Annapurna Devi of the Rashtriya Janata Dal, Rajendra Prasad Singh of the Congress and Jai Prakash Bhai Patel of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha are among the prominent candidates in this phase.