Impressive turnout in phase 2 in rural areas, situation opposite in urban areas
Bihar witnessed moderate turnout in the second phase of the Assembly polls on Tuesday, but the rural vs urban divide was clearly visible on the polling booths that gave hope and despair to the respective alliance in the State.
The 94 Assembly constituencies that went to poll in the phase two of Bihar elections on Tuesday recorded 53.51 per cent turnout and the figure was likely to go up as voting continued beyond schedule in several places, the Election Commission said.
The combined voter turnout in the two phases was recorded at 53.79 per cent till 5 pm, the Commission said. In the corresponding constituencies which went to poll in the 2015 Assembly polls, the turnout was 55.35 per cent, the EC said.
While rural pockets of Bihar, especially those dominated by the Yadav and Muslim voters saw impressive turnout, the situation was just the opposite in the State capital Patna, which has been a BJP bastion for decades. Patna saw a turnout of just 48 per cent where as Muzaffarpur recorded nearly 60 per cent polling.
If the BJP has to worry because of lower turnout in Patna , then the JD (U) has its own share of concerns because of the second lowest turnout of 51 per cent in Nitish Kumar’s home district of Nalanda. The JD(U) had won five out of seven seats in the district in the 2015 Assembly polls.
West Champaran clocked 59.69 per cent voting, East Champaran 57 per cent, Sitamadhi 58 per cent and Seohar 46 per cent. The urban district of Bhagalpur saw a turnout of 54 per cent. In rest of the districts, the turnout varied between 54 to 48 per cent.
Ground reports suggested that youth voters turned up in large numbers to cast their votes. Incidentally, Grand Alliance chief ministerial candidate Tejashwi Yadav has been aggressively wooing the youth voters with the promise of 10 lakh Government jobs.
The second phase of elections will decide the electoral fate of RJD leader and Mahagathbandhan’s chief ministerial face Tejashwi Yadav and more than 1,450 other candidates.
Polling began at 7 am, but the time for its conclusion has been extended by one hour till 6 pm to facilitate Covid-19 patients and those with symptoms of the disease to exercise their franchise during the final hour. The process, however, concluded early in the Maoist-hit areas.
Vaishali district’s Raghopur, from where RJD leader and chief ministerial candidate of the Opposition Grand Alliance Tejashwi Yadav is contesting, has recorded 54 per cent polling, as per the EC data.
Hasanpur, from where Lalu Prasad’s elder son Tej Pratap Yadav is in the fray, has recorded an estimated 54.25 per cent votes till 5 pm. Fifty-one per cent voting was recorded in Parsa from where JDU’s Chandrika Roy, the father of Tej Pratap’s estranged wife Aishwarya, is contesting.
Prominent personalities including Governor Phagu Chauhan, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, his deputy Sushil Kumar Modi, Tejashwi Yadav, and LJP president Chirag Paswan cast their votes in their respective polling booths in the morning.
Kumar did not speak to the media waiting outside the polling station, while Tejashwi Yadav said after casting the ballot that people are “angry” with the Government and they will vote for education, health, irrigation.
Meanwhile, a controversy has erupted over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s election speech on Tuesday in Fobesganj and Saharsa in which he said the “friends of jungle raj” were against the people of Bihar chanting “Bharat Mata Ki Jai” and “Jai Shri Ram”.
While RJD leader Shivanand Tewari said the speech is a desperate attempt to polarise the voters because the PM was aware that the NDA was all set to lose Bihar, political analyst Tehseen Poonawalla filed a complaint with the Election Commission over the PM’s speech.
Taking to Twitter, Poonawalla said he has filed a complaint with the Election Commission of India.
Wednesday, 04 November 2020 | PNS | Patna
