The Hindu : National : 2 shot dead in Bihar; peaceful polling in U.P.

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2 shot dead in Bihar; peaceful polling in U.P.

This phase will decide the fate of 223 aspirants, including RJD’s Lalu Prasad and BJP’s Rajiv Pratap Rudy

— Photos: PTI

Voters await their turn at a polling station in Rohania, Uttar Pradesh, on Thursday.

Patna/Lucknow: Maoists shot dead two security personnel in Bihar’s Gaya district in violence-marred elections for 13 of the state’s 40 parliamentary seats in the first phase on Thursday. The voter turnout was estimated at 40-45 per cent.

“An estimated 40 to 45 per cent of a little over 1.75 crore voters exercised their franchise,” a spokesman for the State election office said.

The elections will decide the fate of 223 aspirants, including RJD chief and Railway Minister Lalu Prasad and BJP spokesman and former Union Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy (Saran), besides Union Ministers Meira Kumar (Sasaram) and Kanti Singh (Karakat).

Among those whose fates were sealed in EVMs were former JD(U) parliamentary party leader Prabhunath Singh (Maharajganj) and RJD general secretary Shyam Rajak (Jamui).

Polling was held for Gopalganj, Maharajganj, Ara, Gaya, Buxar, Jehanabad, Aurangabad, Nawada, Saran, Sasaram, Siwan, Karakat and Jamui seats.

Heavily armed Maoist guerrillas, who called a boycott of the elections, swooped on Singhpur village of Gaya district minutes after the polling began and shot dead constable Vishwambhar Choudhary and homeguard Ramdeo Khair.

In Uttar Pradesh, an estimated 48 per cent of polling was recorded in 16 parliamentary constituencies, which included naxal-affected areas.

Rise in poll percentage

Interestingly, as compared to the last election there was a considerable rise in poll percentage in naxal-affected areas of the State.

“Approximately 48 per cent votes were polled in the first phase of the elections. As compared to 47 per cent polling in 2004, the poll percentage has gone up roughly by one per cent,” Chief Electoral Officer Anuj Kumar Bishoi told reporters in Lucknow.

Barring minor complaints, polling was by and large peaceful and no untoward incident was reported from any of the 13 districts.

Polling break-up in percentage: 49 in Maharajganj, Ghazipur, Robertsganj and Gorakhpur, 46 in Kushi Nagar, 47 in Deoria, 44 in Lalganj and Varanasi, 43 in Azamgarh, 45 in Ghosi, 41 in Salempur, 42 in Ballia, Bansgaon and Machlishahar, 50 in Chandauli and 50 in Mirzapur. — PTI

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