Jamshedpur, April 23: Opening with a “bang”, polling in Jamshedpur was peaceful except for a few stray incidents in Ghatshila, Patamda and Mango.

Considered a high-profile seat, the turnout here stood at 52 per cent as compared to 56.59 per cent in the Lok Sabha elections in 2004.

The second phase of polling began with police firing at Basadera in the Ghatshila sub-division. Naxalite activities were reported from this region. The rebels also set off a bomb at Bota village in the Patamda block. However, no casualty was reported in both the incidents.

“The exchange of fire at Basadera lasted for a short period, after which polling was carried out peacefully. In Patamda, too, all went fine,” said returning officer-cum-deputy commissioner of East Singhbhum Rabindra Kumar Agarwal.

According to him, the main priority of the administration was to ensure that polling parties in rural areas returned safely with the EVMs.

Polling in urban areas remained peaceful, except for Mango, where JMM supporters, led by party’s central committee member Babbar Khan, tried to disrupt the poll process at booth 236. They also misbehaved with the polling officials. Khan allegedly tried to take charge of the controlling unit of EVMs from the presiding officer.

Agarwal said that the polling magistrate had been asked to submit a report on the incident. Action will be taken against the JMM leader on the basis of the report.

Minor clashes between activists of Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (JVM) and BJP were also reported from Golmuri and Bistupur.

The polling process was also stalled for sometime at a few booths in Sonari, Baridih, Sakchi and Kadma due to problems in EVMs. Engineers of Bharat Electronics Limited were rushed to the venues and the machines were either repaired or replaced.

Sultry weather conditions had an impact on the voting pattern in urban and rural areas of the constituency alike. Also, a sizeable number could not cast votes, as their names were not present on the voter list. “In the last bypoll, my name was their on the voter list. However, it is missing this time. My wife’s name is still here and she voted,” said Amitava Sarkar, a resident of Beldih Lake Flat.

Earlier in the morning, JMM candidate Suman Mahto cast her vote at Andhra Association High School, Kadma. BJP candidate Arjun Munda and Arvind Singh of JVM also remained vigilant and kept a close eye on the voting process in the constituency.

Both Munda and Singh visited various localities giving tips to party activists.