Ranchi: Politicians, industrialists, cricketers and celebrities joined the queues of voters in their respective cities to exercise their franchise in the first phase of state assembly elections on Wednesday.
In Ranchi, governor Santosh Gangwar was among the early birds to reach the polling station at Shri Krishna Institute of Public Administration (SKIPA) on Meurs Road, roughly a kilometre away from Raj Bhavan. Harivansh Narayan Singh, deputy speaker of Rajya Sabha, also cast his vote at a booth in CCL's Jawahar Nagar Colony in Kanke Road.
Chief minister Hemant Soren and his wife Kalpana Murmu Soren, who are registered voters of the Hatia assembly segment, turned up to cast their ballots at the model polling booth at St Francis School in Harmu. However, the balloting unit at the booth developed a snag roughly 30 minutes before Soren's scheduled arrival and had to be replaced.
While JMM workers raised slogans as Soren arrived, voters stopped by and tried to catch a glimpse of the couple. "Jharkhand Ki Aadhi Abaadi Chunega Apna Maan, Apna Samman (Half of Jharkhand's population will cast their votes today to preserve their dignity and self-respect," Kalpana posted on X after casting her vote.
Flashbulbs shifted to the JVM Shyamli School in Mecon Colony in Doranda as former Indian cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni arrived to cast his vote. Dhoni was accompanied by his wife Sakshi, father Pan Singh and mother Devaki Devi.
Simon Oraon, a registered voter in the Mandar assembly constituency, arrived at his booth in frail health in Bero and was carried inside the polling station in a wheelchair by the volunteers. In Jamshedpur, Tata Steel CEO TV Narendran and his wife Ruchi also cast their votes.