Jharkhand: 66.45 pc voter turnout recorded till 5 pm in Gandey assembly bypoll

Ranchi: A voter turnout of 66.45 per cent was recorded till 5 pm on Monday in the by-election to Gandey assembly seat in Jharkhand, officials said.

The bypoll was held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha elections to the three constituencies of Chatra, Hazaribag and Koderma in the state.

Voting started at 7 am in the assembly constituency and continued till 5 pm.

“The Gandey assembly seat saw 66.45 per cent voter turnout till 5 pm,” an official said.

A total of 11 candidates, including Kalpana Soren, the wife of jailed former chief minister Hemant Soren, are in the fray.

The BJP has fielded Dilip Kumar Verma from the Gandey assembly seat.

The seat fell vacant after the resignation of Sarfaraz Ahmad, who was recently elected to the Rajya Sabha unopposed.

Kalpana Soren said she is confident of winning, and people are voting for Hemant Soren as “a strong wave is in his favour”.

“The people have given the mandate against the BJP in the first five phases (of Lok Sabha polls)… The INDIA bloc is going to form the government at the Centre,” she told PTI.

Later in a post on X, she said people of the country, including Jharkhand, are voting to protect democracy and the Constitution.

“Politics, party, government… Everything was your (Hemant Soren’s) responsibility. I was happy taking care of the house. I neither had any interest in joining politics nor did I think I would ever do this… But the dictators changed our lives on January 31.

“Along with you, my soul has been imprisoned within the four walls… At the start of the innings, I can only say that I will always stand firmly with you in your struggle and in the happiness and sorrow of our Jharkhand family,” Kalpana Soren said.

The enthusiasm of people has “shaken the foundation of dictatorial forces”, she added on X.