Voting for 43 seats in the first phase of Jharkhand Assembly elections began on Wednesday, with 683 candidates in the fray.

Polling began at 7 am and will go till 5 pm in most places. At 950 booths, voting will end at , reported PTI.

Among the prominent candidates whose fate will be decided on Wednesday is former Chief Minister Champai Soren, who is contesting on a Bharatiya Janata Party ticket from Seraikela against the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha’s Ganesh Mahli.

Champai Soren, formerly a Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader, had served as the chief minister for 152 days when party leader Hemant Soren was in jail. Champai Soren from the top post on July 3, and crossed over to the BJP less than two months later on August 30.

Other prominent candidates in the fray on Wednesday are the BJP’s Geeta Kora, the Congress’ Rameshwar Oraon and the Janata Dal (United)’s Saryu Roy.

A total of 15,344 polling stations have been set up for 1.37 crore eligible voters to cast their ballot in the first phase of the elections.

Voting for the second phase of Jharkhand Assembly polls will be on November 20. The counting of votes will take place on November 23, alongside that of the Maharashtra Assembly elections.

Voting also began on Wednesday...