Bihar elections: 57.59 per cent turnout in fourth phase

mangaloretoday.com

Bihar, Nov. 01: An estimated 57.59 per cent voter turnout was recorded in the fourth phase of Bihar Assembly poll  for 55 assembly seats on Sunday. Additional Chief Electoral Officer R. Lakshmanan said the exercise passed off peacefully, including in Maoist strongholds.

 

Both Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Grand Alliance of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar claimed they had the upper hand in 55 of the 243 constituencies in seven districts.

Polling came to an end at 3 pm in four constituencies of Sheohar, Riga, Runnisaidpur and Belsand while it ended at 4 pm in eight constituencies of Valmikinagar, Ramnagar (SC), Madhuban, Chiraiya, Dhaka, Minapur, Paroo and Sahebganj.

Though voting was hampered for half an hour at polling station number 50 of Sheohar constituency following a clash between two groups of rival candidates, it resumed after a little while with the District Magistrate and other officials making an intervention to ensure polling continues.

Meanwhile, a homeguard, Mahadev Prasad, died of heart attack while on duty at polling station numbers of 69, 70 and 71 located at an upgraded middle school in Purandara panchayat of Raxaul assembly constituency of East Champaran district.