Bihar Elections: 3rd phase of polling today

3rd phase of Bihar poll

3rd phase of Bihar poll

 

1.46 crore voters, spread across 6 districts, will exercise their franchise today to choose candidates of their choice for 50 Assembly constituencies that will form part of the Bihar State Legislative Assembly. Of the 50 constituencies, 8 constituencies are reserved for SC candidates.

In this round, most constituencies will begin voting from 0700 hours to 1700 hours, while some will close at 1600 hours. The fourth round of voting will take place on Sunday, 1 November and the last round on Thursday, 5 November. The results will be announced on Sunday, 8 November.

The final voter turnout break-up today:

Saran:  52.50%

Vaishali:  54.82%

Nalanda:  54.11%

Patna:  51.82%

Bhojpur:  53.33%

Buxar:  56.58%

Phase total:  53.32%

Repoll :

  • Banka (PS 131): 71.34%
  • Chakai (PS188): 75.57%

Both Banka and Chakai which had Repoll registered very high voter turnout

Leaders cast their vote

Some of the other leaders whose fate will be decided in today’s voting included Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad BJP, Shatrughan Sinha BJP, Deputy Speaker Amarendra Pratap Singh BJP who is standing from Ara, Shyam Rajak JD(U) from Phulwari, Nand Kishore Yadav BJP from Patna Sahib, Shravan Kumar JD(U) from Nalanda, Arun Kumar Sinha BJP from Kumhrar, Pradeep Dubey BJP from Buxar, Kaushalendra Yadav BJP from Nalanda, Asgan Shameen JD(U) from Biharsharif, Manoj Kumar Singh JD(U) from Barh.

Lalu Prasad, his wife Rabri Devi and daughter-in-law (Tej Pratap’s wife) all cast their votes at the Loyola School polling booth No 150 in Patna.

Ex-Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi cast his vote at Rajendra Nagar polling booth in Patna.

Rajiv Pratap Rudy cast his vote at Chapra.

At Bakhtiarpur polling station No. 2 a monkey attacked an old woman and bit her hand. Besides this, there were some clashes reported in some booths between voters and police.

Leaders exude confidence

Arun Jaitley expressed confidence of a clean sweep in the polls and said that the election is not so much about arithmetic but about chemistry. He spoke of how the women and youth were backing the NDA as they held aspirations.

Meanwhile, Lalu Prasad spoke to the media after casting his vote and he too spoke about a sweep by the Mahagathbandhan but this is expected of all leaders.

Latest voter turnout report as on 0900 hours today

• Saran: 10.29%
• Vaishali: 13.32%
• Nalanda: 8.80%
• Patna: 7.41%
• Bhojpur: 6.61%
• Buxar: 9.41%

Phase total: 9.12%

Repoll AC(PS) 0900 hours:

• Banka: 11.24%
• Chakai: 21%

The 6 districts holding the polls today are: Saran, Vaishali, Nalanda, Patna, Bhojpur and Buxar.

District: Saran

• Assembly constituencies: Ekma, Manjhi, Baniapur, Taraiya, Marhaura, Chapra, Garkha (SC), Amnour, Parsa and Sonepur.

District: Vaishali

• Assembly constituencies: Hajipur, Lalganj, Vaishali, Mahua, Raja Pakar (SC), Raghopur, Mahnar and Patepur (SC).

District: Nalanda

• Assembly constituencies: Asthawan, Biharsharif, Rajgir (SC), Islampur, Hilsa, Nalanda and Harnaut.

District: Patna

• Assembly constituencies: Mokama, Barh, Bakhtiarpur, Digha, Bankipur, Kumhrar, Patna Sahib, Fatuha, Danapur, Maner, Phulwari (SC), Masaurhi (SC), Paliganj and Bikram.

District: Bhojpur

• Assembly constituencies: Sandesh, Barhara, Arrah, Agiaon (SC), Tarari, Jagdishpur and Shahpur.

District: Buxar

• Assembly constituencies: Brahampur, Buxar, Dumraon, Rajpur (SC).

Total Assembly seats in Phase-3: 50

• Total candidates : 808
• Male candidates: 737
• Women candidates: 71

Party-wise break-up of candidates

• BJP is fielding up 34 candidates, while HAM-S-4, RLSP-2, LJP-10.
• JD(U) is fielding 18 candidates, RJD-25 and Congress-7.
• SP is fielding 31 candidates, BSP-47, and CPI-19, CPI(ML)(L)-27, Independents-276.

The break-up of electors in the third phase of voting:

• Total electors: 1,45,93,980

General electors:

• Total: 1,45,58,861
• Male electors: 78,51,593
• Female electors: 67,06,687
• Third gender: 581

Service electors:

• Total: 35,115
• Male electors: 23,007
• Female electors: 12,108
• Third gender: 0

Total number of ASD electors: 6,36,707

First time electors within 18-19 years of age include:

• Total electors: 5,07,188
• Male electors: 3,16,081
• Female electors: 1,91,032
• Other: 75

Other details

• Total number of polling stations: 14,170
• Total number of polling station locations: 9,696
• Total number of EVMs to be used: CU: 14,170; BU: 20,812
• Total number of polling staff to be deployed: 75,149
• Total number of CRPF & police personnel to be deployed (Companies): 1,107
• Total number of video cameras to be deployed: 1,087
• Total number of Helicopter/UAV to be deployed: 5

Big names in fray today

Mid-way into polls, this round is crucial for both alliances in the fray. In 2010 assembly elections, out of the 50 seats in this round, JD(U) won 23 seats and its then alliance partner BJP, won 20 seats. The combined total between JD(U) and BJP together won a massive 43 out of 50 seats. It must be noted however, that in 2010 there was no Modi wave. RJD, which was in opposition at the time, won 7 seats and Congress drew a blank.

During the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, BJP swept the polls in Bihar riding on the Modi wave. However in 2015, JD(U) along with its present alliance partners RJD and INC are contesting against the NDA alliance led by BJP. This time there is no Modi wave. JD(U) along with RJD together represent a total of 30 out of 50 seats won in 2010 and they will have to deal with anti-incumbency in certain seats.

In the current round of polling taking place today, BJP has large stakes as this region was a stronghold for the party and it will try and consolidate on the goodwill. The other party, though not in serious contention but fielding a large number of candidates is BSP, which is putting up the highest number of candidates at 47.

Nalanda, which is Nitish Kumar’s stronghold, is going to polls in this round and his reputation here will be put to test through his candidates. Lalu Prasad’s political future will also be put to test as his two sons, Tej Pratap and Tejashwi are contesting in this round.