 "polling, voting, voters, elections")
A voter turnout of around 44 per cent was recorded till 1 pm in the four Lok Sabha seats in Jharkhand where polling was underway on Monday, officials said.
Voting started at 7 am in Singhbhum, Lohardaga, Khunti and Palamu seats amid tight security measures, marking the first phase of elections in the eastern state. It will continue till 5 pm.
Singhbhum registered a voter turnout of 43.83 per cent till 1 pm, while Khunti recorded 47.41 per cent, Lohardaga registered 43.46 per cent and Palamu recorded 41.85 per cent.
Much enthusiasm was witnessed among voters, especially in the Maoist-hit areas in Singhbhum, Palamu and Lohardaga. In some of these places, people voted after decades.
Chief Minister Champai Soren voted along with his family at his ancestral village Jilinggora.
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"I voted in my village today ensuring my participation in this grand festival of the world's largest democracy," he said.
BJP's Khunti candidate Arjun Munda, the Union tribal affairs minister, said he was confident that the people of the country would vote for his party and make Narendra Modi the prime minister once again.
He voted along with his wife Meera Munda at a booth in Khelarisai in Kharsawan.
His rival Kalicharan Munda of the Congress also exercised his franchise and claimed that he would win by over 50,000 votes this time.
JMM Singhbhum's candidate Joba Manjhi also exercised her franchise.
"I have faith that the voters will certainly shower their blessings on me in this election," she said.
Congress's Lohardaga candidate Sukhdev Bhagat claimed that his victory was certain.
"People are coming out in large numbers to exercise their franchise and root out the BJP from the Lohardaga constituency," Bhagat said after casting his vote.
So far, polling has been peaceful in the four Lok Sabha seats, officials said.
Over 64.37 lakh people are eligible to exercise their franchise in this phase.
Forty-five candidates are in the fray in these four seats.
