Polling held under tight security

DARBHANGA: Polling began amidst tight security in all 10 constituencies of Darbhanga district on Sunday. The poll percentage recorded by 1 pm had barely went above 27.15 percent. According to information provided by the district control room, the poll percentage first increased to 34.6 percent and then swelled to 41 percent at 3 pm.
Voters at booth no.17 at Mahthour village of Kusheshwarsthan assembly segment boycotted the polls.
A constable opened fire when a father-son duo tried to disrupt poll proceedings at booth no: 180 at Jakhra village under Hayaghat police station in Hayaghat constituency in the district.
Senior superintendent of police (SSP) M R Nayak said one, Ajit Kumar Singh, and his father, Vimal Kumar Singh, found their names deleted from the voters' list. Peeved at this, they tried to snatch the weapon from a constable on duty and tried to obstruct the poll process. This forced the constable to open one round of fire. The SSP said police arrested Vimal in this connection.
The SSP added the polling went unhindered and 472 out of a total 1,480 votes had been polled in the booth till the time of reporting.
Those in the fray in the 10 assembly segments in the district include nine sitting MLAs, two formers MPs as well as five ex-MLAs. The maximum number of 20 contestants are testing their electoral fortune from Bahadurpur assembly constituency while Alinagar assembly segment, having ten candidates, is the constituency with lowest figure in this regard. State RJD president Abdul Bari Siddiqui, Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Dr Ashok Ram, former MPs Vijay Kumar Mishra (BJP) and Ramchandra Paswan (LJP) are among the prominent candidates from Darbhanga district.
While the polling stations spread across district recorded an average voter turnout of 10-12 percent in the first two hours of voting, most of the booths almost wore a deserted look by afternoon. Poll watchers, however, anticipated that the polling would go up again in the closing stages. At booth no. 96 in Darbhanga town assembly seat, 258 out of a total of 900 voters exercised their franchise by 11.30 am. A majority of women voters, in particular, came early to cast their votes.
As many as 132 candidates including 54 independents are in the fray in the ten assembly segments in the district.
According to information, these candidates include nine sitting MLAs, two formers MPs as well as five ex-MLAs. The maximum number of candidates, 20 contestants, are testing their electoral fortune from Bahadurpur assembly constituency while Alinagar assembly segment, having ten candidates, is the constituency with lowest figure in this regard.
State RJD president Abdul Bari Siddiqui, Congress legislature party leader Dr Ashok Ram, former MPs Vijay Kumar Mishra (BJP) and Ramchandra Paswan (LJP) are among the prominent candidates from Darbhanga district.
At booth no. 84 at Anandpur High School in Hayaghat assembly constituency over 45 percent of 767 voters had exercised their voting rights by 12.30 pm.