Bihar polls: 52% polling in first phase -21/10/2010

21/10/2010

Bihar polls: 52% polling in first phase

Patna: Amid tight security, an estimated 36 per cent of electorate cast their ballots till 2 pm on Thursday in 47 of Bihar's 243 assembly constituencies in the first phase of polling which was by-and-large peaceful with police arresting 150 people.



Police said the balloting began at 7 a.m. and was conducted peacefully. The voting, to pick a new 243-seat legislature ends next month, and the results will be out Nov 24.

Additional Director General of Police P.K. Thakur told IANS that the election passed off peacefully except for "minor clashes". "There were no reports of violence, casualty or big trouble during the polls. It passed off peacefully," Thakur said.

He said more than 100 troublemakers were arrested. Stray incidents of clashes were reported between rival groups. At some places, the electronic voting machines malfunctioned. Apart from that, it was a smooth exercise in a state notorious for election violence.

Official sources said nearly 52.5 percent of the 10 million eligible to exercise their franchise in the first round voted till the end of polls at 5 p.m. in the Kosi-Seemanchal and Mithilanchal belts. "The percentage of votes may increase as final reports are yet to reach here," an election official said.




Long queues of men and women were seen outside many polling centres. Up to 18-20 percent voted in the first five hours. Balloting picked up rapidly after that. The eight districts which went to the polls are Kishanganj, Araria, Purnia, Madhepura, Saharsa, Katihar, Supaul and Madhubani.

Reports reaching here said that voters in over a dozen villages in Madhepura boycotted polls and shouted slogans against the lack of development. "We boycotted polls over the lack of roads in our village," Suresh Rai, a villager in Madhepura said.

Mansoor Alam, another angry man who boycotted polls, said that villagers decided not to vote as there was no electricity. Rai and Alam were among hundreds of villagers who decided not to vote. Interestingly, the main poll issue this election is development. All political parties have been wooing voters by promising development.

There were 635 candidates in the first round. Most constituencies fell in the rural areas. There were 10,868 balloting centres. According to Bihar police chief Neelmani, central paramilitary forces guarded 85 percent of the booths. The Special Task Force maintained air surveillance from helicopters.

The ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has 37 of the 47 seats. At stake is not just the future of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, but also the political reputations of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad and Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) chief Ram Vilas Paswan.



The Congress, which is fighting all seats on its own, will also be looking to break in. The leaders also played the minority card with a sizeable Muslim population in Seemanchal, which includes Kishanganj, Araria, Purnia and Katihar districts.

In the Kosi belt, the JD-U hopes lie with votes of the extreme backward castes (EBCs) to counter the caste factor in the Yadav and Paswan strongholds. The Congress, which is fighting all 243 seats on its own, is fielding an EBC candidate to tackle the JD-U and a Yadav to counter the RJD.

In the Mithilanchal belt, upper caste votes could be split between the Congress and the BJP. The heavyweights in the fray in this phase include state Congress president Mahboob Ali Qaiser as well as four ministers - Bijendra Prasad Yadav, Renu Kumari, Narendra Narain Yadav and Hari Prasad Shah.

JD-U leader Shivanand Tiwari claimed after polling had ended that the JD-U-BJP alliance will increase its tally. "We are sure to do better than last polls," Tiwari said. However, RJD leader Shakil Ahmad Khan said the RJD-LJP combine would surprise everyone. "We are confident to make a big gain," he said. The next rounds of polling will be held Oct 24 and 28, and Nov 1, 9 and 20.



Congress ahead of you in development, Rahul to Nitish

AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi on Thursday slammed Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for flaunting the development work done by him in Bihar and asked him to see the progress in Congress-ruled Andhra Pradesh.

"Nitish always flaunts development work done by him. If he is really interested to assess what he has done for Bihar, he should not compare it with that of the 15-year-rule of the RJD, led by Lalu Prasad.

"I advise him to compare his work with the development in Andhra Pradesh," Gandhi told an election meeting here. Raking up afresh the issue of Kumar's secular credentials, he said the JD-U leader should not claim it as long as he was in the company of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray.

"How can a person project a secular image with ties with such leaders?" he asked. The UPA government has always cooperated with Bihar and provided around Rs one lakh crore in the last six years against Rs 50,000 crore given by the erstwhile NDA government, he said.

"More funds have been given for the implementation of MGNREGA, Rajiv Gandhi Gramin Vidyutikaran Yojana and Indira Awas Yojana, but the desired results are yet to be seen," he rued.

Stating that it required vision to reach the fruits of development work to the poor and that the NDA government had done a lot for the rich, he asserted Bihar has the potential to become a developed state and there was no dearth of funds for its growth.



He appealed to the people to vote for Congress saying his party alone could provide justice to the poor and serve them.

Addressing another election meeting at Muzaffarpur, Gandhi said the UPA government launched the flagship rural employment guarantee programme in 2004 to provide jobs to the poor for at least 100 days a year, whereas the NDA had coined the 'India Shining' campaign "for the rich to shine at the cost of the poor."

He said though the scheme was meant for all, "The NDA government in Bihar seems to have forgotten farmers for whom the Centre had declared a waiver of Rs 60,000 crore in loans and over which the NDA had raised a hue and cry."

"I also want to inform you the Centre has given more funds to the state for Indira Awas Yojana in Bihar than other states," he said alleging corruption in implementation of schemes for construction of houses for BPL households. Gandhi also attacked the NDA for targetting him when he had taken British Foreign Secretary David Miliband to visit his Amethi Lok Sabha constituency in Uttar Pradesh.

"The NDA leaders criticised me saying that I have taken him to show the suffering of the people. But I had said that it was to show the strength of the poor people of India," he added.

Source: Agencies