Nitish at Jharkhand election rally

Shot Gun canvassing in Jharkhand

Maharastra CM Ashok Chuavan addressing a pressconference in Ranchi.

Round four of Jharkhand polls - a factfile

The fourth phase of the Jharkhand assembly elections will be held Saturday. Some facts:

Number of constituencies - 14

Total electors: 24,62,850 (male 12,65,767, female 11,97,083)

Total candidates: 233

Women candidates: 20

Constituency with maximum candidates: Ichagarh - 27

Constituency with least candidates: Baharagora - 11

Constituency with more than one woman candidate: Bishunpur (Scheduled Tribe) - four
Party-wise list of candidates: Congress 12, Bahujan Samaj Party 14, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) 14, Communist party of India 1, Communist Party of India-Marxist 1, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha 14, Rashtriya Janata Dal 11, Nationalist Congress Party 2, others 164

Number of EVMs to be used: Control unit - 3,622, Ballot unit - 4,989
Largest constituency (area-wise): Simdega (Scheduled Tribe)

Largest constituency (electorate-wise): Potka (Scheduled Tribe), 225,847 electors
Smallest constituency (electorate-wise): Torpa (Scheduled Tribes), 143,877 electors
Polling stations: 3,457

48 convicted in fodder scam case

Ranchi. A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court Thursday convicted 48 people in a multi-million fodder scam case related to the fraudulent withdrawal of crores of Rupees from the Ranchi treasury on the basis of fake bills.

Special CBI court of S.K Dubey pronounced the judgment in the RC 44 A/96 case which is related to fraudulent withdrawal of Rs.8.60 crore from the Ranchi treasury. There were total 58 accused in the case. Four died during the trial and two turned CBI approvers.

The special CBI court Thursday convicted 48 accused and acquitted four. The court also awarded two-three years sentence on eight accused and slapped fine between Rs.20,000 and Rs.40,000. The quantum of sentence against the remaining 40 convicted will be pronounced Dec 15.

The multi-million fodder scam surfaced in 1996 during undivided Bihar. A total of 61 cases were transferred to Jharkhand after it was carved out of Bihar in November 2000. The special CBI courts have passed judgment in 32 cases.

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad and former Bihar chief minister Jagannath Mishra are accused in five cases, and the trial is going on in the CBI courts of Ranchi.

Pranab and co. cut cake on Sonia Gandhi's birthday

The lady might have been missing but members of her party, including union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, duly celebrated Congress president Sonia Gandhi's birthday by cutting a cake and wishing her all the best.

Amongst those wishing her on her 64th birthday were union Food Processing Minister and Ranchi Lok Sabha MP Subodh Kant Sahay, Jharkhand Congress unit general secretary Shailesh Sinha and ally, former chief minister and Jharkhand Vikas Morcha-Prajatantrik (JVM-P) president, Babulal Marandi.


"Our best wishes are with her. We wish her a very happy birthday," Mukherjee, who is here to campaign for the ongoing assembly elections, said after a press conference.


"Enthusiastic party workers had got a five pound cake to wish our party president happy birthday.

Sonia Gandhi's Rally in Jharkhand

UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi today asserted that the Centre will talk to the Maoists only if they shun the path of violence.

Ms Gandhi, addressing an election rally here, said, "The UPA government is ready to discuss any matter with the Maoists.

However, they will have to end the violence. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has already said Development and Law and order will go hand-in-hand," she added.

Peace was necessary for achieving a balanced growth and neither the politics of violence nor any atrocities would be tolerated, she averred.

Foolproof security arrangements were made for Ms Gandhi's visit to this Maoists-infested area.