A provisional voter turnout of 48.23% was recorded in the four constituencies of Bihar that went to the polls in the first phase of the Lok Sabha election on Friday.
The four seats are Gaya, Jamui, Nawada and Aurangabad. Former Chief Minister and Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) leader Jitan Ram Manjhi is in the fray in Gaya against Kumar Sarvajeet of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).
In another key contest, Arun Bharti, brother-in-law of Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) chief Chirag Paswan, is up against RJD candidate Archana Ravidas in Jamui.
In Nawada, Vivek Thakur of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is locked in a direct contest with the RJD’s Shravan Kushwaha, while Sushil Kumar Singh of the BJP is contesting against RJD candidate Abhay Kushwaha in Aurangabad.
Gaya recorded a voter turnout of 52%, Aurangabad 50%, Jamui 50%, and Nawada 41.50%.
Voters boycotted polling at seven booths in protest against lack of civic amenities. Twelve people were taken into preventive detention in Gaya and 20 in Nawada.
Voting in 14 Naxalism-affected Assembly segments took place till 4 p.m. These are Sherghati, Barachhati, Bodhgaya, Giruwa, Imamganj, Tikari, Rajauli, Govindpur, Tarapur, Jhajha, Chakai, Sikandra, Kutumba and Rafiganj.
Chief Electoral Officer H.R. Srinivas said, “In comparison to the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the voter turnout is 5% less. But the figure is provisional.” The voter turnout in these four seats in the 2019 Lok Sabhe election was 53.47%.
Asked about the first phase of voting in Bihar, RJD leader and former Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav said, “Based on the feedback we are getting, we are winning all four seats. People of Bihar are angry with the present government at the Centre and this time, the results would be surprising. We are confident of winning all four seats.”
Reacting to his remarks, Janata Dal(U) leader and Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Jha said that Mr. Yadav would be surprised when the results come as the combination of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was a dream combination.
Senior BJP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary said, “On all four seats, people have voted for Narendra Modiji because they want him to return to power. NDA is winning all four seats by a huge margin. So their claim of winning all seats is nothing but daydream.”
