Bihar goes to polls amid heavy security
April 16th, 2009 - 10:38 am ICT by IANS
Patna, April 16 (IANS) Polling for the first phase of general elections began Thursday morning in 13 of the 40 Lok Sabha constituencies in Bihar amid shoot at sight orders for the police to prevent violence by Maoists and political musclemen, officials said.
Long queues of voters were seen at various polling centres during the first hour of polling, which began at 7 a.m.
“The state administration has taken adequate measures to check violence during the polls,” Bihar police chief D.N. Gautam said.
He said that 110,000 police personnel, including central paramilitary forces, have been deployed at 19,738 polling booths. Two Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopters are also being used for aerial surveillance.
Most Maoist affected areas of the state are going to the polls in the first phase. The rebels of the outlawed Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) have called for boycott of the election.
The constituencies going to polls in the first phase are Gaya, Jehanabad, Aurangabad,
Nawada, Ara, Buxar, Karakat, Maharajganj, Sasaram, Jamui, Saran, Siwan, Gopalganj.
About 17.6 million people are eligible to exercise their franchise, which will decide the electoral fortunes of 223 candidates, including Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad in Saran, central ministers Meira Kumar in Sasaram and Kanti Singh in Karakat.
The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Janata Dal-United’s (JD-U)Prabhunath Singh and Congress’s Nikhil Kumar are also in the poll fray.
In Siwan and Nawada constituencies, jailed RJD MP Mohammad Shahabuddin’s wife Heena Sahab and Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) MP Surajbhan Singh’s wife Veena Devi, respectively, are trying their luck.
Both Shahabuddin and Singh, known criminal-turned-politicians, have been convicted for murder and have been barred from the polls.
- Poor voter turnout in Bihar in initial hours (Lead) - Apr 16, 2009
- Shoot at sight orders in Bihar against troublemakers - Apr 15, 2009
- Over 30 percent voting in Bihar till afternoon as Maoists kill two (Second Lead) - Apr 16, 2009
- 50 percent voting amid Maoists violence in Bihar (Third Lead) - Apr 16, 2009
- Bihar issues shoot-at-sight orders ahead of polls - Apr 15, 2009
- Bihar polls: Test of governance, rule of law in phase three - Oct 27, 2010
- Bihar polls: Voting under way for third phase (Second Lead) - Oct 28, 2010
- Bihar has dozens of candidates facing serious criminal charges - Apr 16, 2009
- Wives of criminal-turned-politicians trailing in Bihar - May 16, 2009
- Wives of criminal-turned-politicians lose in Bihar (Lead) - May 16, 2009
- Mobile phones seized from former RJD MP Shahabuddin in Siwan jail - Oct 22, 2010
- RJD releases list of 25 candidates from Bihar (Lead, Changing Dateline) - Mar 23, 2009
- Bihar: JD-U retains Darounda - Oct 17, 2011
- Third phase of Bihar Assembly elections witness 53% voter turnout - Oct 28, 2010
- Two JD-U legislators booked for extortion - Dec 23, 2010
Tags: adequate measures, aerial surveillance, bharatiya janata party, communist party of india, heavy security, indian air force, lalu prasad, ljp, lok sabha constituencies, meira kumar, musclemen, nawada, nikhil kumar, poll fray, polling booths, rajiv pratap, sahab, sasaram, shahabuddin, siwan