All the 402 candidates contesting in the first phase of polls for the Jharkhand assembly on February 3 will be provided with bodyguards, Chief Secretary P P Sharma said in Ranchi on Saturday.

The administration had earlier said only some candidates would get security.

Apparently, the latest decision was taken after the January 16 killing of Communist Party of India (ML-Liberation) legislator Mahendra Prasad Singh.

Sharma said there are adequate returning officer and assistant ROs to conduct the polls.

There are 5,346 polling booths in the 24 assembly constituencies going for polls in the first phase.