An estimated 49.60 per cent of 5,84,395 voters exercised their franchise in the by-elections to two assembly constituencies in Bihar till the end of polling at 4 pm on Saturday, the Election Commission said.
Kusheshwar Asthan witnessed a voter turnout of 49 per cent, while Tarapur registered 50.05 per cent polling, according to provisional figures released by the EC.
“The entire polling process was peaceful and no untoward incident was reported from any part,” a senior official of the poll panel said. Altogether 17 candidates are in the fray for the two seats - eight in Tarapur and nine in Kusheshwar Asthan.
The by-elections were necessitated due to the deaths of sitting MLAs, both belonging to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JD(U). The counting of votes will take place on November 2.
