LS polls: Last 8 seats locked in Bihar, turnout 50.56%

The eight seats in Bihar that went to vote on Saturday are Patna Sahib, Patliputra, Nalanda, Arrah, Karakat, Buxar, Sasaram and Jehanabad.

Polling in the last eight seats in Bihar held on Saturday, the last of the seven-phase parliamentary elections across the country, was by and large peaceful with a provisional voter turnout of 50.56%.

Former union minister and BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad casts his vote during polling for Patna Sahib, from where he is seeking a re-election to the Lok Sabha. (HT photo)

The eight seats in Bihar that went to vote on Saturday are Patna Sahib, Patliputra, Nalanda, Arrah, Karakat, Buxar, Sasaram and Jehanabad.

Although the voter turnout was around 0.68% lower this time compared to 2019 (51.24%), Bihar’s chief electoral officer (CEO) H R Srinivasa said the final figure will go up as data was still being complied.

Additional director general (ADG) of police (headquarter) J S Gangwar said a few incidents of clashes between supporters of different candidates were reported from Bhojpur, Kaimur and Jehanabad. “Police stepped in to control the situation and booked trouble-mongers. We are keeping a vigil in the area,” he said.

A total of 134 candidates, including 12 women, were in the fray, and the voting was conducted at 16,634 polling booths. There were a total of 1.62 crore eligible voters in the eight constituencies, of which 85.01 lakh were men, 77.07 lakh women and 415 third gender. A total of 73,348 police personnel and 20,780 Home Guards were deployed to ensure free and fair polling.

Patliputra Lok Sabha constituency, where former Union minister and sitting BJP Ram Kripal Yadav is locked in a fight with RJD Rajya Sabha member and Lalu Prasad’s daughter Misa Bharti, reported 56.91% voting, which was up by 1% compared to the 2019 elections.

Patna Sahib seat recorded voter turnout of 45% against 45.67% in 2019. Former Union minister and sitting BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad and Congress nominee Avijit Ansul, who is son of former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, are key contestants here.

Buxar recorded the second highest voter turnout (53.70%) among the eight seats, followed by Karakat (53.44%), Jehanabad (51.20%), Sasaram (51%), Arrah (48.50%), Nalanda (46.50%) and Patna Sahib (45%).

The bypoll for Agiaon assembly constituency in Bhojpur recorded voter turnout of 46%. The bypoll was necessitated due to the disqualification of CPI (ML) Liberation MLA Manoj Manzil following his conviction in a murder case.

Bhojpuri actor Pawan Singh, former union minister Upendra Kushwaha and Union minister RK Singh were among prominent candidates in the fray.

Bihar Governor Rajendra V Arlekar cast his vote at a polling booth on the Raj Bhavan premises, while chief minister Nitish Kumar exercised his franchise at a polling centre at Bakhtiyarpur under Patna Sahib Lok Sabha seat.

RJD supremo Lalu Prasad, his wife and former chief minister Rabri Devi and their daughter Rohini Acharya also cast their votes at a polling booth in Patna.

Women turnout increases

Women electorate have come forward in good numbers to exercise their franchise in the 2024 LS polls. The chief electoral officer said that around 61.23% women voters had cast their votes in this elections as compared to 53.06% male voters. In 2019 LS polls, around 59.59% woman voters had cast their votes against 55.12% males.