Voting over, vigilance begins.

Foot soldiers of various parties, who worked round-the-clock to ensure success of their candidates in the run-up to the December 2 polls in six Assembly constituencies of East Singhbhum district, are still on toes to preserve the people's mandate.

Despite the multi-tier security arrangement and 24X7 surveillance by CRPF personnel, party workers are camping in makeshift tents in front of the strongroom at Jamshedpur Cooperative College where altogether 1,630 EVMs from Baharagora, Ghatshila, Potka, Jugsalai, Jamshedpur East and Jamshedpur West have been kept.

Following the directive of the East Singhbhum district administration, every mainstream party has erected one tent for all the six seats, unlike previous elections when one party used to set up separate tents for workers from different constituencies. They have also made elaborate arrangements at these tents to keep workers' enthusiasm alive till counting on December 23. From giant screen TVs and games to foods and beverages, most of the biggies - BJP, JMM, JVM and Congress - have made provisions for wholesome entertainment.

' Humare karyakarta utsahit hain kyuki humara position chhey vidhan sabha chetro main se, chhar par kafi achcha hain (Our workers are quite excited as our position is quite good in four out of the six Assembly constituencies in the district),' said JMM district president Mahabir Murmu.

Insiders claimed that the party was confident of bagging Jugsalai, Baharagora, Ghatshila and Potka.

No wonder, the mood is upbeat at the JMM camp, where workers are spending their time playing carom, cards etc. The party has ensured free flow of refreshments like tea and coffee besides arranging a TV set.

Also, the workers are getting free breakfast, lunch and dinner.

The BJP, which has fielded candidates in five out of the six seats, leaving Jugsalai for ally Ajsu, has made arrangements for food packets for its workers, who are camping in different shifts, and is planning to install a large screen television.

The party has tied up with a local vendor for continuous supply of refreshment.

'Our cadres are already upbeat about a full majority and this is reflected in their body language. We want them to stay in good mood in the remaining phases of elections. A roster has been prepared, dividing the days among workers from different blocks,' said BJP district president Nandji Prasad.

The JVM, too, has provided carom boards, ludos and cards to its workers.

'We have asked a vendor to prepare litti-chokha for party workers at night. Apart from indoor games, we have also provided cricket kits. They can enjoy a session or two at the college grounds, which regularly hosts club-level tournaments of the state cricket association,' said C.H. Rammurthy, JVM media spokesperson in the steel city.

The Congress, which has candidates in all six seats, is providing refreshments and dinner.

'As of now, we are providing only dinner packets. We will install a television set,' said Congress district president Bijay Khan.