Bihar assembly polls: First phase voting underway across 18 districts | Patna News
PATNA: First phase voting for the state assembly began in Bihar on Thursday, covering 121 constituencies in 18 districts of the state.Voters turned out at polling centres across the region as the first stage of the electoral process unfolded.
In Patna district, voting was held in 14 assembly constituencies. A total of 5,677 polling centres were set up. These included 541 women’s polling stations, 49 model polling stations, 14 PwD polling stations and three youth polling stations. The number of critical voting centres stood at 2,099.Mokama assembly constituency, which had attracted attention after the murder of gangster Dularchand Yadav, also went to the polls in the first phase.The contest is between two gangsters: Anant Singh, who is contesting on JD(U)’s ticket and had been arrested in Dularchand’s murder case, and convict Surajbhan Singh, whose wife Veena Devi is contesting against Anant Singh on RJD’s ticket. Dularchand, on the other hand was supporting Jan Suraaj candidate Priyadarshi Piyush.Several leaders exercised their franchise early on Thursday, including in Patna where the first RJD family was spotted at the Veterinary College Ground.Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Prasad Yadav was present with his parents Lalu-Rabri, wife Rajshree Yadav and sister Rohini Acharya.After voting they urged people to use their voting rights. At several places, voters stood in long queues to cast their ballots.While polling proceeded peacefully so far, at one booth in Maner in Patna district voting could not start at its scheduled time because of an EVM malfunction. A report of EVM malfunction was also filed from one booth in Darbhanga.
