Jharkhand will go to polls in five phases extending from November 30 to December 20 to elect its 81-member Assembly, the Election Commission announced on Friday. Counting for all the five phases will take place on December 23.

The term of the current Assembly expires on January 5, 2020.

During the first phase of elections on November 30, 13 Assembly Constituencies (ACs) will go to the polls, while in the second phase 20 ACs will cast their votes on December 7. The third phase of the polls will see 17 ACs casting their votes on December 12, while 15 ACs will go to the polls on December 16. The fifth and final phase will see 16 ACs going to the polls on December 20.

Six districts including Chatra, Gumla, Latehar and Garhwa will go to the polls in the first phase, while seven districts including East and West Singbhum will go to the polls in the second phase. In the third phase, eight districts including Bokaro, Ranchi and Hazribagh will go to the polls.

Sunil Arora, Chief Election Commissioner, said at a press conference that the State has also seen voting in five phases previously including in 2014.

To facilitate the election process, in which over 2.26 crore electors in the State are eligible to vote, the Commission has set up 20 per cent more polling stations at over 29,000 as compared to the previous Assembly polls. The Commission has decided to use Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail and Electronic Voting Machines in every polling station.

The Model Code of Conduct comes into immediate effect, the Commission announced. The maximum limit of expenses for candidates for the Assembly constituency is ₹28 lakh each.

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