15-18 per cent polling in Bihar,two killed by Maoists

An estimated 15 to 18 per cent voters exercised their franchise in 13 out of the 40 lok sabha seats of Bihar till noon on Thursday during the first phase of polling.

An estimated 15 to 18 per cent voters exercised their franchise in 13 out of the 40 lok sabha seats of Bihar till noon on Thursday during the first phase of polling,even as two security personnel were killed by naxalites in Gaya district.

According to state election office sources here,an estimated 15 to 18 per cent voters cast their votes till 1200 hours as long queues of voters were seen at different polling centres in all constituencies — Gopalganj,Maharajganj,Ara,Gaya,Buxar,Jehanabad,Aurangabad,Nawada,Saran,Sasaram,Siwan,Karakat and Jamui where polling was on.

Reports of people boycotting the elections at some booths in the naxal-infested Jamui,Jehanabad,Gaya and Sasaram constituencies also continued to pour in,the election office sources said.

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A Homeguard Ramdeo Khair and a district armed police (DAp) personnel Vishambhar Choudhary were killed and a woman was seriously injured when the Maoists,who have given poll-boycott call,attacked a polling station at Singhpur village in Gaya district soon after the polling began.

The maoists snatched four rifles from the security personnel,besides electronic voting machines and several rounds of ammunition at the village,about 70 km from Gaya,DIG (Magadh range) Anupama Nilekar said. According to another official report from Gaya,the voters boycotted voting at five polling centres at Belaganj one of the assembly segments of Gaya parliamentary constituency.

In Saran lok sabha seat where RJD supremo Lalu Prasad is locked tough fight with the Rajiv Pratap Rudy of BJP,the vehicle of BSP candidate Salim Pervej’s election agent Chandra Bhushan Pandit was attacked at Mubarakpur village but he escaped with minor injuries,official sources said.

An electorate of over 1.75 crore is eligible to caste their votes at 19,738 polling stations to choose from among 223 candidates,including 21 women.

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Prominent among those trying their luck at the hustings in today’s vote in Bihar include Lalu Prasad,his BJP rival for Saran seat Rajiv Pratap Rudy.

Others include Union ministers Meira Kumar of Congress (Sasaram),RJD’s Kanti Singh (Karakat) and former Delhi police commissioner and sitting Congress MP Nikhil Kumar (Auranbagad).

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