Ranchi, Dec 14 (IANS) The ongoing assembly polls in Jharkhand have recorded high voter turnout in areas considered Maoist strongholds despite a boycott call by the rebels. The election commission and the police say people could come out and vote in large numbers thanks to the security cover and infrastructure in place.
The fourth phase of polls Saturday saw a turnout of 64.3 percent, according to the final tally of the poll percentage released by the Jharkhand election commission Sunday evening. The initial report had put the tally at 59 percent.

While the first phase Nov 25 saw 53.1 percent voting, the number was 58.8 in the second leg Dec 2. The third phase Dec 8 recorded 57.2 percent. The final stage of polling is to be held Dec 18 and votes will be counted Dec 23.

In the first phase, voting took place in 26 constituencies where Maoist rebels had negligible presence. In the second (14 seats), third (11 seats) and fourth (14 seats)phases, nearly 80 percent of the constituencies where voting took place were in areas considered Maoist strongholds.

The election commission is justifiably happy with the high turnout.

“We ensured heavy security cover, which seems to have created confidence among the voters. We had also launched awareness campaigns and took the help of Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni to create awareness among voters,” Ashok Kumar, Joint Election Commissioner of Jharkhand, told IANS.

In the fourth phase, highest polling was seen in two constituencies - Bharagora and Ichagarh with 76.16 and 75.31 percent, respectively.

Also, the rural voter turnout was higher in comparison to urban voters. The Ranchi constituency witnessed the lowest turnout with 32.4 percent.

According to an election official, the turnout of voters in urban areas was between 45 and 50 percent and the rural voter turnout was between 55 and 60 percent.

In the first four phases, the number of Maoist attacks were lower in comparison to previous elections. Jharkhand police had pressed six helicopters and around 40,000 security forces to ensure peaceful polling.

The forces also guarded the connecting roads by taking positions atop trees and conducting marches on highways to keep Maoist guerrillas away.

“Till the fourth phase of polls we have succeeded in providing security cover to both polling officials and voters which resulted in high turnout. We adopted some measures like covering connecting roads with security forces and helicopters for peaceful polling,” said V.H. Deshmukh, Jharkhand police spokesperson.

In the fifth phase Dec 18, polling will take place in 16 assembly constituencies and 14 of them are located in Maoist dominated areas.