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Sporadic trouble in round four of Bihar polls
Monday November 01, 2010 06:37:36 PM,
IANS
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Patna:
Millions in 42 constituencies voted Monday in the fourth phase of
the Bihar elections that were marred by a landmine blast in Jamui
and homemade bombs exploding near capital Patna. There were no
casualties.
More than five million people voted across eight districts in the
staggered elections to pick a new 243-member house, officials
said, adding that the turnout was 51 percent.
Though the last three rounds had passed off peacefully, Maoist
guerrillas exploded a landmine targeting a vehicle of paramilitary
forces in Jamui district. A bridge was damaged but the troopers
escaped.
"The blast took place near the Chakai-Jamui main road in Betia
forest. No casualties were reported," Additional Director General
of Police P.K. Thakur said.
In a separate incident, some troublemakers exploded a series of
homemade bombs in Danapur near Patna to disrupt voting, injuring a
woman. Five people were arrested.
A total of 568 candidates were in the fray in eight districts:
Begusarai, Lakhisarai, Bhagalpur, Khagaria, Munger, Banka, Jamui
and Patna.
The day proceeded peacefully except for these two incidents.
Ignoring the Maoist boycott call, voters queued up outside polling
booths soon after balloting began at 7 a.m. despite the morning
cold.
"People lined up to vote since early morning. Till the end of
polls at 5 p.m., nearly 51 percent of the 10.4 million electorate
had voted," said an official at the Bihar state election office.
In Patna, a first information report (FIR) was filed against
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad for violating the
model code of conduct. He got into trouble as he entered the
polling booth with his security guards.
The RJD chief and his wife, former chief minister Rabri Devi,
voted at a booth in Patna's Digha constituency.
His rival and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar lost no time in calling
him a "habitual law breaker".
"Lalu Yadav is a habitual law breaker, it is an old habit for him
and he will not improve," Nitish Kumar told reporters outside a
polling booth in his hometown Bakhtiyarpur.
A case for violating the model code of conduct was also filed
against Bihar Transport Minister Ramanand Singh in Khagaria
district.
Amongst the heavyweights trying their electoral luck in this round
were Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ministers Ashwini Kumar Choubey
(Bhagalpur), Nand Kishore Yadav (Patna Sahib), Ramnarayan Mandal (Banka)
and Janata Dal-United (JD-U) minister Damodar Raut.
Bollywood actor-politician Shatrughan Sinha and former central
minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, spokesperson of the BJP, were
amongst those who voted in Patna.
Paramilitary force personnel manned 85 percent of the booths.
Special Task Force officials conducted air surveillance to ensure
free and fair elections.
The last two rounds of the six-phase poll will be held Nov 9 and
20. Votes will be counted four days later on Nov 24.
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