No Sharad dharna this time

MADHEPURA: Union minister for food and civil supplies and JD-U candidate Sharad Yadav, who has locked horns with RJD supremo Laloo Prasad Yadav in this Lok Sabha seat, seemed a satisfied man on Wednesday evening after polling came to an end here. In earlier elections, he used to have a list of hundreds of booths which had allegedly been captured by Laloo''s supporters.It was widely felt that the situation may be repeated this year too, prompting him to sit on a dharna like he did after polling in last election. But the scene was different this time.
At around 4 pm, the Union minister wore a smile on his face. "It''s the most peaceful election ever held in Madhepura," he exclaimed. He could count the booths from where he had received complaints, on his fingers. "Around 45 booths in the entire constituency," he remarked.
"The administration has done its job well. The Election Commission observers did their job. There was best possible use of Central Para-Military Forces(CPMF)," Sharad Yadav said. However, "as the administration could not get more CPMF, Laloo''s brother in-law and RJD MLC Subhash Yadav was able to capture four or five booths," he remarked.
There were widespread apprehensions of large-scale poll irregularities in this constituency. But if there was one man who ensured a virtually trouble-free polling, it was K J Alphonse, special EC observer, known as the demolition man of DDA. "Everything should go well. The forces have been deployed at the right spots," Alphonse had remarked earlier.
He caught a polling officer and his entire team casting all the votes in RJD''s favour at Sripur village. The entire polling team was rounded up.
While Sharad Yadav was satisfied, RJD chief Laloo Yadav was fuming. "I have received complaints from my supporters that the CPMF obstructed poor people from casting their votes," he remarked, adding "I have also heard of a large number of non-functioning EVMs".
Laloo kept himself confined to a private house at Madhepura, monitoring the election process throughout the day. He was visibly tired as he had returned to Madhepura at 3 am.
A few kms away, Laloo''s stronghold appeared to be cracking. Sahangar Dubh-ram locality had voted en masse for Laloo in the last election. "This time also the majority of votes are going to him. But Sharadji is also getting around 20 per cent votes," remarked a resident of the village, Sambhu Yadav.
Udakishunganj, an assembly segment represented by state industry minister Ravindra Charan Yadav, saw a relatively peaceful poll. "Criminals came here to force us to vote for Lalooji. We would have given our votes to him. But now, there is resistance," remarked Bhola Yadav, a resident of Gwalpara.
However, there indeed were several complaints about poll employees trying to influence voters'' choice of candidate. At Shankarpur Madaili locality under the Alamnagar assembly segment of the constituency, voters complained of polling personnel pressurising them to cast their votes in favour of "teer" — the JD-U''s election symbol.
Except for a cross-firing reported from Ghailarh, where five persons are reported to have received minor injuries, there was no major violence.