Ranchi, Dec 23: Counting of votes for 81 Assembly constituencies in Jharkhand began at 8 am on Monday, Election Commission officials said.

The election was held in five phases between November 30 and December 20.

Among the prominent candidates are Chief Minister Raghubar Das from Jamshedpur East, the chief ministerial candidate of the opposition JMM, Congress, RJD alliance Hemant Soren from Dumka and Barhait and former chief minister Babulal Marandi, also the president of Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik), from Dhanwar.

Counting began at 8 am in all the district headquarters, the officials said.

Postal ballots will be taken up first and votes polled in the Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) will begin at 8.30 am, they said.

Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.



Lohardaga (Jharkhand) (PTI): A mentally unstable man was arrested for allegedly bludgeoning his elderly mother and wife to death in Jharkhand's Lohardaga district, police said on Sunday.

The incident took place in Dhanamuji village in Bhandra police station area on Saturday evening. The deceased have been identified as Rupi Oraon (62) and Somri Oraon (45), they said.

"The accused, Madwa Oraon, was arrested immediately after the incident. He allegedly attacked his mother and wife with an iron rod after an altercation over some issues, leading to their death on the spot," Lohardaga Superintendent of Police (SP) Sadique Anwar Rizvi said.

He said the bodies of both the victims were sent to Sadar Hospital, Lohardaga for post-mortem examination.

"The accused is mentally unstable. He has been receiving treatment for the last one year. He used to get agitated over small issues, and that might have been the reason behind the incident," another police officer said.

An FIR has been registered against the accused, Manoj Gupta, officer-in-charge of Bhandra police station, said.