Despite the fear of Maoist violence, the penultimate leg of Bihar’s six-phase Assembly polls were held largely peacefully on Tuesday, registering an average 50 per cent voter turnout in the 35 constituencies considered a stronghold of the ruling JD(U)-BJP alliance.
The Maoists, who had pasted threatening pamphlets asking the people to boycott Tuesday’s polls in eight southern districts, failed in their sporadic efforts to disrupt the polls. Voting time had been reduced by two hours — from 7 am to 3 pm instead of the usual 5 pm — in 13 constituencies considered sensitive from the security point of view. In four other constituencies, voting had to be wound up at 4 pm for similar concerns. Nearly 90 per cent of the 8,975 polling stations were guarded by the CRPF and the state police, while Army helicopters conducted aerial surveillance.
Jehanabad district, an erstwhile stronghold of the Maoists, and Patna district recorded the highest voting at 52 per cent each, while Arwal registered the lowest at 47 per cent. The districts of Gaya, Bhojpur, Nalanda and Sheikhpura saw close to 50 per cent voting, while it was 48 per cent in Nawada. Four ministers — Hari Narain Singh (Harnaut), Jitan Ram Manjhi (Makhdumpur) and Bhagwan Singh Kushwaha (Jagdishpur) of the JD(U) and Prem Kumar (Gaya town) of the BJP — were the most prominent among the 490 candidates vying for the 35 seats having 81.26 lakh eligible voters.
A landmine allegedly planted by the Maoists in a road in Masaurhi in Patna, where polling was held, was detected in time and a jeep carrying policemen about to roll on it escaped danger.
Former minister Aditya Singh and four of his supporters were arrested on charge of intimidating voters and firing three rounds in Hisua in Nawada, where Mr Singh’s daughter-in-law Nitu Singh is contesting on a Congress ticket.