Bihar’s third phase of Assembly polls for 48 seats in six north-western districts on Thursday registered an average 53.65 per cent voter turnout and passed off largely peacefully in areas infamous as the state’s “wild west”. This phase holds crucial significance for Bihar’s ruling NDA, the main Opposition RJD-LJP and also the resurgent Congress.
While West Champaran district witnessed the highest polling at 58 per cent, the lowest of 50 per cent was registered in Saran. The districts of Vaishali, East Champaran, Siwan and Gopalganj witnessed 54 per cent, 57 per cent, 52 per cent and 51 per cent respectively. The first two phases of polls for 47 and 45 seats earlier had registered 54.31 and 52.55 per cent voter turnouts respectively.
Women and elderly voters exercised their franchise in larger numbers than before in all the 48 constituencies, where polling was held at 10,814 booths amid unprecedented deployment of security forces and aerial surveillance conducted by two police helicopters. Over 1.03 crore voters were eligible to choose 48 legislators from the total 785 candidates, including 65 women, in the third phase of polls.
Sporadic incidents of enthusiastic queues of voters being caned by the police were reported. One voter in Vaishali’s Lalganj area, when allegedly prevented by the police from voting, picked up the EVM and threw it away, eventually damaging it. The man was arrested. An old woman died at a booth at Badhara in Siwan district soon after casting her vote.
Two foiled incidents of alleged efforts to capture booths brought back the gloomy memories of elections in the 1990s for many in Kuchaikot constituency in Gopalganj district, where, according to allegations made by the local ruling JD(U) leaders, workers of the RJD tried to capture booths bearing numbers 190 and 191.
An Independent candidate, Mudrika Rai of Taraiyan constituency in Saran, was arrested along with five supporters while allegedly trying to distribute cash to voters during polling.
Cash worth `16,500 was seized from them. BJP minister Renu Devi’s car was seized in Bettiah as she reached a polling booth along with her bodyguard to cast her vote. RJD leader and ex-MP Prabhunath Singh’s nephew was arrested for unauthorised entry into a polling booth in Masrakh.
Prominent politicians whose fortunes would be decided by the results of the third-phase polls included former chief minister Rabri Devi of the RJD and former ministers Brishan Patel, Renu Devi, Gautam Singh, Vyasdeo Prasad and Ram Pravesh Rai of the JD(U) and the BJP’s Janardan Sigriwal.
The two constituencies where Rabri Devi is contesting — Raghopur and Sonepur — witnessed 50 and 49 per cent voting respectively.