Bihar polls 2015: Second phase of polling begins

Ignoring the poll boycott call of Maoists, people came out in large numbers to exercise their franchise in 2010 assembly and 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

Polling began at 7 a.m.in 32 of the 243 constituencies, including Maoist-affected areas, spread across six districts, officials said.

Additional Chief Electoral Officer R Lakshamanan said that while voting would start at 7 AM in all 32 constituencies it would end at 3 PM in 11 constituencies and at 4 PM at 12 others.

Only 9 out of a total of 32 seats would see voting from 7 AM to 5 PM.

The Election Commission has cut short the time for voting by one to two hours in as many as 23 constituencies, depending upon its perception of the threat from outlawed naxalite groups. Lakshmanan said more than 993 companies (each comprising about 100 personnel) of central forces and state police will be deployed to maintain order on the ground.

In the last two days, more than half a dozen bombs were seized in Gaya and Rohtas districts, planted allegedly by the Maoists to disrupt the elections, a police officer said. Chaudhary is a five-term MLA from the seat.

Manjhi is also trying his luck from Makhdumpur seat in Jehanabad. These figures, however, nearly flipped during the Lok Sabha elections past year, when the NDA won 29 out of the 32 assembly segments, leaving only two for the grand alliance.

This time JD(U) and RJD are contesting 13 seats each, while Congress has its candidates in the remaining six.

Of the 21 seats HAM is contesting in alliance with the NDA, seven are situated in this region. RJD leaders Surendra Prasad Yadav, Mundrika Singh Yadav and Illyas Hussain as well as former JD(U) minister Ramdhani Singh are also in the fray. Prominent among them are Bihar legislative Assembly speaker Uday Narayan Choudhary, former BJP ministers Prem Kumar and Ramadhar Singh, ex-president of the state BJP Gopal Narayan Singh and the RSS-backed candidate Rajendra Singh.

But the BJP is confident of the overwhelming support of upper castes along with sections of OBCs and EBCs along with Dalits, mainly Manjhi’s castemen Mushahars as well as Paswans, who owe allegiance to LJP leader Ram Vilas Paswan, another BJP ally.