Stage set for first phase of Bihar elections on Monday, 49 seats to go to polls

Patna: After a high pitched bitter phase of campaigning, which saw rival camps led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the one hand and  Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad on the other hand holding a string of rallies, the stage is set for voting in 49 seats of Bihar Assembly elections in the first phase of the five-phase poll on Monday. Additional Chief Electoral Officer R Lakshamanan said that a total of 1,35,72,339 electorate are eligible to decide the fate of 583 candidates for the 49 seats in 10 districts in the first phase of elections. [caption id=“attachment_2464148” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Image courtesy: Reuters[/caption] Lakshamanan said that voting would start from 7 AM. While in the majority of seats, polling would end at 5 PM, in some constituencies, the time has been cut short to 4 PM and 3 PM on the basis of feedback on the law and order situation in Naxal-hit areas, he said. Out of a general electoroate of 1,35,72,339, there are 72,37,253 men, 63,17,602 women and 405 of third gender. Lakshamanan said out of a total of 583 candidates in the field, there are 54 women nominees. BSP, which does not have much influence in Bihar, has fielded the maximum of 41 candidates among the 49 seats. BJP has fielded 27 candidates in the 49 seats followed by JD(U)- (24), RJD (17), LJP (13), Congress (8) and Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (6) and Hindusthani Awam Morcha (3). The Left front is trying to make significant inroads in the poll on the basis of the combined strength of six parties - CPI, CPI-M, CPI- ML, Forward Block, SUCI (C) and RSP. While CPI has fielded 25 candidates, CPI-M has fielded 12 in the first phase. Lakshamanan said tight security arrangements have been put in place to ensure peaceful polling in 13212 polling stations in the first phase. Bihar will go for polls in a five phase election from October 12 and end on November 5. Counting of votes will take place on November 8. The term of the current 243-member Bihar Assembly expires on November 29. There would be 80,000 to 90,000 polling personnel. Every polling station would be manned by the Central Para Military Force, he said adding drones and helicopters would also be put in service. PTI