Bihar polls: First phase ends peacefully,53% turnout

150 people were arrested on charges of electoral malpractices and for trying to disturb peace.

An estimated 53 per cent of the 1.07 crore voters exercised their franchise on Thursday in 47 of the 243 seats in the first phase of the Bihar Assembly elections which passed off by and large peacefully amid tight security.

Over 150 persons were arrested for indulging in electoral malpractices and trying to disturb polling,Director General of Police Neelmani said,adding several vehicles,including motorcycles were seized. He described the voting as absolutely peaceful.

An official report from Madhepura district said BPL card holders and local people pelted stones at two booths,but they were pacified by authorities who allowed them to cast their ballots.

A bomb exploded outside a booth at Laukha in Madhubani district,but there was no injury,police sources said.

Official sources said Samajwadi Janata Party candidate Alumiddin Ansari was taken into custody for creating disturbance at a booth at Bayasi in Purnia district.

Prominent among the 631 contestants in fray for the first phase are senior JD(U) ministers Vijendra Prasad Yadav,Narendra Narain Yadav,Renu Kumari,Hari Prasad Sah,Congress nominee Ranjeet Ranjan,wife of former MP Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav,state Congress chief Choudhary Mehboob Ali Kaiser and Lovely Anand,the wife of former MP Anand Mohan.

Cardiac arrest claimed the lives of two poll personnel in Pranpur in Katihar district and in Jhanjharpur constituency.

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The presiding officer at Chhathapur in Supaul district was beaten up allegedly by ruling JD(U) supporters,the sources said.

Five security personnel were injured when a tractor trolley overturned at Phulparas in Madhubani district.

Polling concluded in Naxal-hit Sirmri Bakhtiarpur constituency in Saharsa district an hour before schedule.

State Congress chief Mehboob Ali Kaiser is pitted against JD-U in a straight fight.

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Initially,problems in EVMs were reported from a number of booths in Supaul,Kishangaj,Ariria and Katihar,Saharsa and Madhepura districts,but they were promptly attended to and polling continued uninterrupted,the sources said.

Polling picked up as the day progressed with long queues of voters seen before booths.

State Chief Electoral Officer S K Rakesh said the EC introduced live webcast at 169 booths and the entire polling process was videographed for the first time.

Special ramps and braille-EVMs were arranged for the physically and visually challenged voters.