Stage set for elections to 48 civic bodies in Jharkhand
Ranchi (PTI): All preparations have been made for conducting elections to Jharkhand's 48 urban local bodies (ULB), including Ranchi, on Monday, a State Election Commission (SEC) official said.
Voting will begin at 7 am amid tight security and will continue till 5 pm, he said.
Over 43.43 lakh voters are eligible to exercise their franchise in the elections.
"The polling parties have been dispatched on Sunday morning and they are expected to reach their respective destinations by this evening. Many of them have already reached," SEC secretary Radhe Shyam Prasad told PTI.
The counting of votes will be held on February 27.
The elections are scheduled to be held for the posts of mayor, chairperson and councillor at 1,042 wards in nine municipal corporations, 20 nagar parishads and 19 nagar panchayats, he said.
There are 1,087 wards in 48 ULBs, but elections will be held in 1,042 wards, as 41 councillors have already been elected unopposed, while three wards remained vacant after no nomination was received and election at a ward in Mango Municipal Corporation has been cancelled after death of a candidate, Prasad said.
As many as 562 candidates, including 235 women, are in fray for the post of mayor and chairperson, while 5,562 candidates, including 2,727 women, are contesting for the post of ward councillors.
Prasad said adequate security arrangements have been ensured in each booth across 48 ULBs in the state.
A total of 4,307 polling booths have been set up to hold the elections. Of the total polling booths, 896 have been identified as hyper-sensitive and 2,445 as sensitive.
The campaigning for the polls ended at 5 pm on Saturday.
ULB polls in Jharkhand are not contested on the basis of the electoral symbols of the political parties, but candidates are backed by the outfits.
In Ranchi, 11 candidates are contesting for the post of mayor, while 167 aspirants are in the fray for 53 ward councillor posts.
Ranchi Deputy Commissioner Manjunath Bhajantri said all preparations are in place for the election on Monday.
As many as 909 polling booths have been set up in Ranchi. A total of 422 wheelchairs have been provided to facilitate elderly and physically challenged persons in booths, according to a statement issued by the Ranchi administration.
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No 'bacterial infection' found in bodies of 4 Mumbai family members who died after eating watermelon
Mumbai (PTI): The initial report submitted by the microbiology department of a Mumbai-based state-run hospital has said no "bacterial infection" was detected in the bodies of four family members, who died after consuming watermelon recently, officials said on Wednesday.
The Dokadia family, residents of Ghari Mohalla on Ismail Kurte Road, had hosted a get-together of relatives on the night of April 25. At around 1 am (on April 26), hours after the guests had left, Abdullah Dokadia (40), his wife Nasreen (35), and daughters Ayesha (16) and Zaineb (13) ate pieces of a watermelon.
They suffered severe bouts of vomiting and diarrhoea in the early hours of April 26 and were rushed to a local hospital before being referred to the government-run J J Hospital where all four died during treatment.
After the incident, Mumbai police, forensic experts and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officials visited the house and had collected samples of every food item that constituted the family's last meal, including 'chicken pulav', watermelon, water, and other foodstuffs, and sent them to the Forensic Science Laboratory for analysis.
After the post-mortem of the deceased, their viscera was preserved for chemical analysis.
As the probe is underway, the microbiology department of the state-run J J Hospital has submitted its initial report to the police.
"As per the report, no bacterial infection has been detected so far in the bodies of the victims. No bacteria was found in their blood," the official said.
The exact cause of the death will be known once the forensic science lab submits its report, he said.
"The report will also clarify whether any food items consumed by the family members during the day contained anything poisonous," the official said.
