India News | Bihar Bypolls: 52.38. Per Cent Turnout at Close of Polling
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. Bypolls in two assembly constituencies--Mokama and Gopalganj-- passed off peacefully in Bihar on Thursday, with a provisional voter turnout of 52.38 per cent of the 6.10 lakh electorate exercising their franchise.
Patna, Nov 3 (PTI) Bypolls in two assembly constituencies--Mokama and Gopalganj-- passed off peacefully in Bihar on Thursday, with a provisional voter turnout of 52.38 per cent of the 6.10 lakh electorate exercising their franchise.
A total of 15 candidates were in the fray but the main contest was between the RJD, alliance partner of the ruling Mahagathbandhan government in Bihar, and the opposition BJP.
This is the first electoral face-off between the ruling Grand Alliance (GA) and the opposition BJP in Bihar after the change of government in August this year, when Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's party JD-U snapped ties with the saffron party and aligned with Lalu Prasad's RJD-led alliance, comprising Congress and other parties, to form a new government.
“Voting began at 7 AM amid tight security. After the deadline for voting ended at 6 pm, 52.38 per cent voter turnout (53.45 per cent in Mokama and 51.48 per cent in Gopalganj) was recorded. But this figure is provisional”, said H R Srinivasa, Chief Electoral officer (Bihar).
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The counting of votes will be taken up on November 6. "In the 2020 assembly elections, Mokama had recorded a voter turnout of 54.01 per cent and Gopalganj had witnessed turnout of 55.03 per cent”, said the CEO.
The Mokama seat fell vacant following the disqualification of RJD MLA Anant Singh after his conviction in an Arms Act case, while the by-election in Gopalganj was necessitated following the death of sitting BJP MLA Subhash Singh.
Srinivasa told reporters that no untoward incident was reported during polling which was by and large peaceful.
A total 2.79 lakh people were eligible to exercise their franchise in Mokama, the figure was 3.31 lakh in Gopalganj.
Of the total 15 candidates in the fray, nine were contesting from Gopalganj and six were in the fray from Mokama.
A total of 619 (289 in Mokama and 330 in Gopalganj) polling booths had been set up in both the constituencies. "Officials engaged in polling duty also received minor complaints (one from Gopalganj and 14 from Mokama that were immediately resolved ", said the CEO adding a government official, Sanjay Kumar, engaged in polling duty in Mokama died due to cardiac arrest in the wee hours on Thursday, before the polling could start.
Giving details about security arrangements made for bypolls in these constituencies, JS Gangwar, Aditional Director General (Headquarters, Bihar Police), said, "Around 34 companies of security personnel were engaged in polling duty. Police also recovered seven arms and some live cartridges during election". Besides, 177 pending non-bailable warrants were also executed by the security forces during poll duty on Thursday, he said.
BJP leader Kusum Devi is pitted against RJD's Mohan Gupta in Gopalganj. In Mokama, BJP nominee Sonam Devi is up against RJD's Neelam Devi, wife of Anant Singh. Mokama has been the stronghold of Anant Singh since 2005. He won the seat twice on JD(U) tickets. Singh fought as an RJD candidate in the 2020 elections and retained the seat. But he was disqualified from the assembly following his conviction in a criminal case.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)