Vote with full enthusiasm in this festival of democracy: PM Modi tells Jharkhand voters

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday urged voters to exercise their franchise with "full enthusiasm" in the first round of voting in the Jharkhand assembly elections.

Voting for 43 assembly seats in Jharkhand began this morning with a total of 683 candidates trying their luck, including former chief minister Champai Soren and ex-MP Geeta Kora.

The polling began around 7 am in these constituencies across 15 districts and will continue till 5 pm.

"Today is the first round of voting in the Jharkhand assembly elections. I urge all voters to vote with full enthusiasm in this festival of democracy," Modi said in a post in Hindi on X.

"On this occasion, my heartiest congratulations to all my young friends who are going to vote for the first time! Remember - 'pehle matdan, phir jalpaan'!" he added.

The second phase of elections will be held on November 20 in the state while the counting of votes will be done on November 23.