Governor Santosh Gangwar and Chief Minister Hemant Soren voted in Jharkhand municipal elections, complaints of irregularities at many booths

Ranchi: Voting started in 48 municipal bodies in Jharkhand from 7 am on Monday. At some places there was enthusiasm among the voters and at some places the voting remained sluggish. From common people to special people stood in queues and voted. Jharkhand Governor Santosh Gangwar and Chief Minister Hemant Soren also exercised their franchise. Along with the Chief Minister, his wife and Gandey MLA Kalpana Soren also stood in the queue and voted. Apart from this, Minister Irfan Ansari and Shilpi Neha Tirkey also exercised their franchise.

Municipal elections are being held in Jharkhand today. I also exercised my franchise.
There is an appeal to all of you to reach your respective centers and exercise your franchise.

Johar… pic.twitter.com/w0baUG1Fky

— Hemant Soren (@HemantSorenJMM) February 23, 2026

Voting begins in 48 civic bodies in Jharkhand, more than 43 lakh voters will elect the city government

Governor Santosh Kumar Gangwar exercised his franchise on Monday by visiting the polling center located at Sri Krishna Institute of Public Administration, Ranchi in the municipal elections. On this occasion, the Governor said that voting is an essential and powerful part of democracy. He called upon all citizens to exercise their franchise. He urged the citizens to vote voluntarily and fairly and elect such public representatives who are sensitive and committed to the overall development of the area, city and state.

There is an appeal to all the voters living in urban areas to exercise their franchise in the municipal elections being held today...

Conversation with media... pic.twitter.com/F8f2BZmiuk

— Hemant Soren (@HemantSorenJMM) February 23, 2026

Jharkhand's Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Cooperation Minister Shilpi Neha Tirkey has cast her vote for the Ranchi Municipal Corporation elections. Minister Shilpi Neha Tirkey cast her vote at polling booth number 6 of Sant Ajay Middle School, Dahisot Banhora. The Minister has appealed to the general public to participate and vote enthusiastically in the civic elections. Releasing his photograph after voting, he said that this is a democratic means of electing the city government. By participating in this great festival of democracy, elect a public representative who is educated, experienced, visionary and thinking of building a developed city for his area.

Health Minister Irfan Ansari stood in the queue to vote in Ward 13 of Jamtara.

Mayoral candidate Nausheen Khan, who reached Ward 9 St. George School in Jugsalai, said that the names of many voters here are missing, due to which she is facing problems. The Mayor candidate claims that around 3000 to 4000 votes have been lost in Jugsalai.

Voters created ruckus at booth number 8/5 of Ekada Primary School and 8/8 Basudev Gandhi Smriti High School of Ward No. 8 of Dhanbad Municipal Corporation while voting on the voting slips of Ward 9. When a voter saw the voting slip, he found that the election symbol was correct, but the name of the candidate was wrong. Voting stopped for some time due to the ruckus created by that voter. Although 37 voters had voted in the said ballot paper, the election symbol and name of the candidate from the same ballot paper 1 to 12 were correct. A voter named Bhola Vishwakarma told that when he went to vote, he got the voting slip to cast his vote and saw that the election symbol was correct in it, but the name of the candidate was wrongly written in front of the election symbol. After the mistake was caught, people came to know that voting was being held in Ward 8 on the voting slips of Ward 9. Similarly, in Acre Middle School also, voting through the said wallet paper was stopped when a mistake was detected. There also 14 voters had voted. However, apart from this, similar irregularities were found in other polling centres. Presiding Officer Vishwajeet Manji said that such irregularities have been found in two wallet papers of 50 volumes each. He said that this situation has arisen due to a mistake made during the printing of wallet paper. He told that from 1 to 11, ward number 8 was written, in the remaining slips from 12 to 37, ward number 9 was written. If ward number 9 is written initially then voting is not allowed on the wrong slip.

There was a huge ruckus between the supporters of Shilpi Singh and Suman Singh at booth number 58 located at Susanilewa in Ward 22 of Dhanbad. Within no time the dispute escalated so much that it reached the point of fighting. During this time, the anger of the local villagers erupted on two brothers Raj Anand and Veeru Anand, supporters of Shilpi Singh. The villagers caught both of them and beat them severely with kicks and punches. After the incident, there was an atmosphere of chaos in the area. On receiving information about the uproar and fight, Circle Inspector Ajay Kumar immediately reached the spot. Seeing the police coming and the anger of the villagers increasing, Raj Anand and Veeru Anand somehow managed to escape from there to save their lives. The police is investigating the case DSP Headquarters Shankar Kamti and Barwadda police station in-charge Ravi Kumar reached the spot and took information about the matter.
Even after the intervention of the police, there was intermittent ruckus and squabbles outside the polling booth in Ambedkar Nagar, Ward No. 4 of Gumla district. In view of the situation, the administration has deployed additional police force. After this the voting process could proceed normally again. However, other administrative officers along with DC and SP are roaming around the entire district and taking stock of the polling stations. During this time, along with security arrangements, they are also reviewing other facilities including drinking water, sanitation, electricity supply. Peaceful voting is being seen at most places.
The second incident is from Bokaro, where the allegation of bogus voting in Bhojpur Colony area located in Chas has increased the concern of the administration. Actually, three women have been detained here on suspicion of fake voting. Seeing the seriousness of the matter, the Superintendent of Police and other administrative officers themselves reached the spot. The detained women are being interrogated and the entire matter is being investigated. The administration has made it clear that conducting fair and peaceful elections is their top priority. Strict action will be taken against those who commit any kind of disturbance or violate law and order.
The effect of the announcement of election boycott in two wards of Koderma Nagar Panchayat Domchanch was clearly visible on the day of voting. Till 10 am on Monday morning, only seven votes were cast in Ward No. 11, while not a single voter in Ward No. 5 reached the polling booth. Most of the votes cast in Ward 11 are said to be from booth level officials and government employees. It is noteworthy that no candidate had filed nomination for the post of Ward Councilor from these two wards. In such a situation, voting is taking place only for the post of President. Due to there being no candidate for the post of councilor, the lack of enthusiasm among the voters was clearly visible and there was silence at the polling stations.

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