Ranchi, May 19 (IANS): Jharkhand on Sunday recorded 70.43 per cent polling for the three parliamentary constituencies where voting took place in the final phase of the Lok Sabha elections, an election official said.

According to the Election Commission data, voter turnout was the highest in Rajmahal with 71.69 per cent followed by Dumka and Godda with 71.10 and 68.81 per cent respectively. In 2014, Rajmahal had recorded 70.37 per cent, Dumka 71.80 per cent and Godda 66.30 per cent voting.

Voting began at 7 a.m. in 6,258 polling booths and ended at 4 p.m.

Rajmahal and Dumka are reserved for Scheduled Tribes (ST).

According to reports, in Dumka an ailing woman came from Kolkata in an ambulance to cast her vote.

Braving the heat, long queues of voters were seen at polling booths. However, voting started late in five booths due to technical snags in the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).

A total of 45,64,681 people were eligible to vote in these parliamentary constituencies.

There are a total of 42 candidates in the fray. Prominent candidates include Vijay Hansda of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and Hemlal Murmu of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), both contesting from Rajmahal; and Shibu Soren of the JMM and Sunil Soren of the BJP from Dumka.

In the Godda seat, Pradeep Yadav of the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha-Prajatantrik is pitted against sitting BJP MP Nishikant Dubey.