Bihar registers 54.04% voter turnout

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Bihar saw about 54.04% voter turnout on Thursday in its seven Lok Sabha constituencies where polling is on. Patna Sahib recorded the lowest turnout at 41% while Jahanabad recorded the highest at 50%.

Elections held for Munger, Nalanda, Patna Sahib, atliputra, Arrah, Buxar and Jehanabad seats registered 54.04 at the end of polling at 6:00 pm, EC sources said.

It was 39.33 per cent in the seats in 2009.

All the seven seats recorded above 50% voting with Buxar topping the list at 57 %, while Patna Sahib and Patliputra registered 52 % the sources said.

There were no reports of violence, but voters boycotted polls at booths 149, 170 and 232 of Islampur in Nalanda constituency in protest against power and water issues.

There were complaints that JD (U) MLA Anand Singh was intimidating voters, and he was confined inside a house at Barh in Munger Lok Sabha constituency on EC orders.

The heavyweights in this phase of voting include BJP's Shatrughan Sinha from Patna Sahib, BJP's Ram Kripal Yadav from Pataliputra, and RJD's Misa Bharti, daughter of party chief Lalu Prasad, from Pataliputra.

Chief minister Nitish Kumar cast his vote at a booth in Bakhtiarpur of Patna Sahib, while Lalu Prasad, his wife Rabri Devi and daughter Misa cast their votes in Pataliputra constituency.

The BJP's sitting MP from Patna Sahib, Shatrughan Sinha, who is seeking re-election, cast his vote at a booth near his paternal home in Kadamkuan locality of Patna.

"There's unprecedented support for our 'dabangg' action hero Narendra Modi in Bihar," he said.

Source: HT