Jharkhand civic polls: 23% voter turnout recorded in 48 ULBs till 11 a.m.

Over 23% voter turnout was recorded till 11 a.m. in the civic polls to 48 urban local bodies in Jharkhand on Monday (February 23, 2026), an election official said. Voting, which commenced at 7 a.m., is underway amid tight security. It will continue till 5 p.m., he said. “Voter turnout of 23.23% was recorded till 11 a.m. Polling is underway peacefully,” State Election Commission (SEC) Secretary Radhe Shyam Prasad said. Basukinath Nagar Panchayat recorded the highest turnout of 31.05%, while Ranchi Municipal Corporation registered the lowest at 14.60%, followed by Dhanbad Municipal Corporation at 14.79%. Over 43 lakh voters are eligible to decide the fate of 6,000-plus candidates. State Election Commissioner (SEC) Alka Tiwari exercised her franchise at ward number 40 in Ranchi. “Polling is underway peacefully across the state and reports are so far good from every ULB. I would like to appeal to the voters to exercise their franchise,” Mr. Tiwari told reporters. Long queues of voters, especially women, were seen at most polling stations. However, in two major municipal corporation areas -- Ranchi and Dhanbad -- fewer electors had turned up to cast their votes. Union Minister of State for Defence, Sanjay Seth, exercised his franchise at a booth in Kaju Bagan area of Ranchi. Chief Minister Hemant Soren was also expected to visit his booth at St. Paul Kuldeep High School in Ranchi’s Harmu area, as per an official statement. In Pakur, which has a substantial Muslim population, women, despite the month of Ramzan, lined up at polling stations in large numbers to exercise their franchise. Prasad said the elections are underway for the posts of mayor and chairperson in 48 ULBs, and councillors in 1,042 wards across nine municipal corporations, 20 nagar parishads and 19 nagar panchayats. As many as 562 candidates, including 235 women, are in the fray for the posts of mayor and chairperson, while 5,562 candidates, including 2,727 women, are contesting the posts of ward councillors. Mr. Prasad said adequate security arrangements have been made in all the booths. A total of 4,307 polling booths have been set up for the elections. Of these, 896 have been identified as hyper-sensitive and 2,445 as sensitive. ULB polls in Jharkhand are not contested on the electoral symbols of the political parties, but candidates are backed by the outfits. Published - February 23, 2026 11:25 am IST ### Related Topics Jharkhand / election / local elections