Ranchi, Nov 30 (IANS): Polling is in progress in the Mandu assembly constituency of Jharkhand Wednesday amid tight security as many booths are located in Maoist-hit areas.
Voting is taking place at 400 polling booths, of which 152 have been marked as sensitive. Till 11 a.m., 16 to 18 percent polling took place.
A total of 22 candidates are in fray, and their fate will be decided by 2,98,460 voters.
Polling began at 7 a.m. and will end at 3 p.m.
The key contest is among the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), the Congress and the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha-Prajatantrik (JVM-P). They have fielded Jay Prakash Patel, Kumar Mahesh Singh and Manish Jaiswal respectively.
The seat fell vacant after the death of JMM legislator Teklal Mahto.
Many booths are situated in Maoist-hit areas. Paramilitary and state forces have been deployed at sensitive booths. Helicopters have been kept on standby for any emergency.