PATNA: Polling in all 24 local authority constituencies of Bihar Legislative Council passed off peacefully on Monday.
No untoward incident was reported from any part of the state during the polling which began at 8 am in the morning and continued till 4 pm amidst heavy police deployment at all 534 polling stations.
The election saw massive turnout of voters at almost every polling booth which were generally located at the block headquarters. An average 97.84% voters cast their franchise across the state. Highest 99.8% voters’ turnout was reported from Aurangabad constituency, followed by Vaishali (99.67%) and Gaya (99.57%). East Champaran constituency reported the lowest voters’ turnout at 91.7%.
The high-profile Patna constituency reported 98.02% voters’ turnout at the end of polling at 4 pm.
State’s chief electoral officer (CEO) H R Srinivasa said polling in all 24 constituencies which were spread in all 38 administrative districts of the state, passed off peacefully. No unpleasant incident was reported from anywhere.
“Polling booths were created at all block headquarters across the state. Thus, we had altogether 534 polling booths. All booths were provided a two-tier security arrangement,” Srinivasa said, adding all the genuine voters who reached the respective polling station by 4 pm were provided an opportunity to cast his/ her vote.
In Patna district, a FIR was registered against the CPI-ML legislator Gopal Ravidas on the charges of violating the Election Commission’s model code of conduct on the day of polling. Ravidas allegedly drove his party’s flag-fitted vehicle up to the polling station at Phulwari Sharif block office, whereas the model code of conduct says that such vehicles should be stopped at a distance of 100 meter from the polling station. “The magistrate deputed at the polling station has registered a complaint against the MLA with Phulwari Sharif police station for violation of the model code of conduct,” an official of Patna district administration told TOI on Monday.
The counting of polled votes will begin on April 7. The CEO said adequate security arrangements have been made at all designated strong rooms where ballot boxes have been kept.
Among the NDA allies, the BJP contested 12 seats, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) 11 seats while union minister Pashupati Kumar Paras-led RLJP – one seat (Vaishali). In the opposition camp, the main opposition party- Lalu Prasad’s RJD contested 23 seats while its ally CPI the remaining one seat (Bhagalpur-Banka). After the RJD refused to leave even a single seat for the Congress, the grand old party decided to go solo and it fielded candidates from 16, out of total 24 seats.
The current strength of members in the legislative council is 51 against the total strength of 75, as all 24 seats of the local authority category are vacant since July 2021. Of total 51, the JD(U) has 23 members, BJP (15), HAMS (1), VIP (1), RJD (5), Congress (3), CPI (2) and Independent (1).
Bihar CM Nitish Kumar cast his vote at Patna Sadar block polling station in the state capital here.
