The Red rebels in the ‘killing fields’ of central Bihar lost their face as a large number of people defied their diktats of poll boycott and exercised their franchise on Friday in the second phase of voting for 32 Assembly seats in six districts. The average voting percentage in the second phase was recorded at 55 per cent, three per cent more than that in 2010 Assembly polls. In the first phase the average percentage was 56 per cent.
Once again women voters came out in huge number and their voting share was 57.50 per cent as against male’s 52.50 per cent. The day passed off peacefully without even a minor incident.
A CRPF jawan Harendra Singh died of heart attack in Gaya during the polls, said Chief Electoral Officer Ajay Nayak. He belonged to Bhind district of Madhya Pradesh.
The security forces detected two IEDs of 12 and 10 kg from Maigra area of Gaya. A day earlier, forces found landmines from three places.
Thirteen incidents of poll boycott, not at the diktats of the Maoists, were reported from three polling booths in Atri, two each in Gurua, Bodh Gaya and Nabinagar and one each in Mohania and Bhabua constituencies.
In Gaya constituency, seven polling stations were managed fully by women staff, including security personnel. In the second phase, the total number of electorates was 85.96 lakh of which the number of male voters was 45.76 lakh and women 40.20 lakh.
Nayak said in order to strengthen the vigilance, five helicopters and drones were used and para-military forces had been deployed at each polling station.
The second phase of polling will decide the political future of former Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi and his party Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM). Of the 21 HAM candidates, fate of seven has been sealed in the EVMs. Manjhi himself is contesting from Makhdumpur in Jehanabad and Imamganj in Gaya.
In Imamganj, Manjhi faces Assembly Speaker Uday Narayan Chaudhary of JD(U). Manjhi’s son Santosh Kumar Suman is in fray from Kutumba in Aurangabad and his son-in-law Devendra Manjhi is contesting as an Independent candidate from Bodh Gaya.
The stakes for Chief Minister Nitish Kumar are also high in these 32 constituencies. His party JD(U) had won 19 of these 32 seats in 2010. BJP’s six-time MlA Prem Kumar is trying his luck for the seventh time from Gaya while a senior RSS functionary Rajendra Singh is contesting from Dinara constituency in Kaimur.