Amid tight security, the first phase of the Bihar poll for 49 Assembly seats in 10 districts, including some Maoist-affected areas, passed off peacefully on Monday with 57 per cent vote cast.
While the National Democratic Alliance heaved a sigh of relief over the increased voting percentage, ‘the grand alliance’ felt that the trend would work to its advantage. Women voters outnumbered their male counterparts by five per cent.
Long queues
Long queues of voters were largely seen in rural areas. In urban areas, voters did not show much enthusiasm. It is generally said that the BJP gets its major support from urban middle class voters and ‘the grand alliance’ of Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad have their supporters in rural areas.
“Though the high voting percentage reflects the anti-incumbency sentiment, the percentage was not so high that the BJP should feel happy about it. On the other side, the high turnout in rural areas does send out positive signals for the grand alliance,” a poll observer told The Hindu. “The higher turnout can be attributed to better security management and the resultant fear-free atmosphere,” he added.
In the first phase of the last Assembly poll held for the same number of seats, the JD(U) had picked up 29 seats, the BJP 13, the RJD 4, while the Congress, the CPI and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha got one seat each. This time, the JD(U) put up 24 candidates, the RJD 17 and the Congress 8 candidates.
Since morning hundreds of thousands of people lined up at polling stations to cast their vote in the crucial election seen as a referendum on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “popularity” and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s “development plank.”
Women voters too were seen in long queues, especially in Bhagalpur, Banka, Munger and Samastipur districts.
It’s deuce after Phase 1, say observers
With the first phase of Bihar poll, for 49 Assembly seats completed on Monday, political observers, believed the trend is still going 50-50 for both the blocs. “It is still not very clear who is gaining and who is losing but from available indications, a tough and tight battle lies ahead,” said N.K. Chaudhury, a political observer.
However, leaders from both camps saw the polling trend going in their favour. “The BJP-led NDA will not get more than 10-12 seats in the first phase,” declared a ruling party JD(U) leader, while the State BJP leaders said that “the high poll percentage indicates that people are fed up with this government and have voted for change.”
Since morning hundreds of thousands of people lined up at polling stations to cast their vote in the crucial election seen as a referendum on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “popularity” and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s “development plank.”
Women voters too were seen in long queues, especially in Bhagalpur, Banka, Munger and Samastipur districts.
“In the 2010 Assembly poll, the voting percentage in these districts was 50.85, while this time it has gone up to 57,” said the State Election Commission. Tight security arrangements were made with deployment of Central paramilitary forces at every booth and in the Maoist-affected districts of Jamui, Lakhisarai, Munger and Nawada, five helicopters and three drones were deployed for surveillance.
According to the Election Commission, altogether 110 persons were arrested and some vehicles seized.
