WEB DESK
Polling is going on by and large peacefully for the First Phase of State Assembly Elections in 71 constituencies spread over 16 districts. Around 33.19 per cent of eligible voters excercised their franchise till 1 p.m. Chief Electoral Officer H.R. Srinivasa said, people are coming to cast their votes with enthusiasm. He expressed hope that polling percentage will be more this time as compared to that in the last elections.
This is the first election in the country amid COVID pandemic situation. Thermal screening of all persons is being carried out and sanitizers have been made available at all locations during polling. All Polling Booths have been sanitized. Only 1,000 voters will exercise their franchise at each booth, instead of 1,500.
Polling will be from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Out of 71 constituencies, 35 are in Naxal-affected areas where it will be held in the staggered manner. Polling will be up to 3 p.m. in four Naxal-affected constituencies of Chainpur, Nabinagar, Kutumba and Rafiganj while in other five Naxal-affected constituencies polling will be upto 5 p.m. In the remaining 26 Naxal-affected constituencies, polling will be upto 4 p.m.
Additional Chief Electoral Officer Sanjay Kumar Singh told AIR News that Central Para-Military Forces have been deployed in Naxal-infested areas to ensure free and fair polling. Helicopters have also been pressed into service for air patrolling to avert any untoward incident. Combing operation has also been launched in Naxal-affected areas.
Over 2.14 crore electorates will decide fate of 1,066 candidates. Political fortunes of eight Cabinet Ministers Prem Kumar, Ram Narayan Mandal, Jai Kumar Singh, Krishna Nandan Verma, Shailesh Kumar, Santosh Kumar Nirala, Vijay Kumar Sinha and Brij Kishore Bind will be decided in this phase.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged voters to exercise their franchise in the First Phase. In a tweet, Mr Modi asked everyone to take all necessary precautions like wearing masks and maintain Do Gaj Ki Doori.
In NDA, BJP is contesting on 29 seats, JD(U) 35 and Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) six seats. The Vikas Sheel Insaan Party (VIP) has fielded one candidate.
Among the Grand Alliance partners, RJD is contesting on 42 seats, while Congress has fielded 21 candidates. The CPI-ML has eight candidates in fray. Besides, LJP has fielded 42 candidates while RLSP on 43 and BSP on 27 seats.
This phase is crucial for RJD, as the party had bagged 27 seats in 2015 Assembly elections. JD(U) won 18 seats while BJP 13 and Congress nine seats. Four others were also elected.
Elections are being held in three phases for the 243-member Bihar Assembly polls. Apart from the 71 seats that are going to polls today, 94 seats will go to polls in the Second Phase on 3rd of November and 78 seats in the Third Phase on 7th of November. Counting of votes will be taken up on 10th of November.