The fate of 456 candidates from the BJP, the RJD, the JD(U), the Congress, the BSP and other parties depends on the second phase of Bihar assembly elections, scheduled to be held on Friday in 32 constituencies across six districts.
All the six districts – Kaimur, Rohtas, Arwal, Jehanabad, Aurangabad and Gaya – are affected by Naxalism and hence, security at polling stations has been tightened in order to maintain law and order situation.The voting in all 32 constituencies started at 7 am at 9,119 polling stations.
A total of 86,13,832 (over 86 lakh) voters are expected to exercise their voting rights. Of the total electorate, 45,76,722 are men, 40,19,878 women, 256 third gender and 16,976 service voters.
Live updates:
55 per cent voter turnout was recorded in the second phase of assembly elections.
4.40 pm: 46.99 percent polling was recorded till 2 pm.
1:57 pm: Polling percentage of 42.6% seen until 1 pm for the second phase of Bihar polls.
12:32 pm: Polling percentage of 36.27% seen until 12 noon for the second phase of Bihar polls.
11:49 am: Polling percentage of 29.92% seen until 11 am for the second phase of Bihar polls.
10:51 am: Polling percentage of 20.61% seen until 10 am for the second phase of Bihar polls.
10:15 am: Gaya (Bihar): BJP's Prem Kumar casts his vote for Bihar Polls
9:30 am: Polling percentage of 10.76% seen until 9 am for the second phase of Bihar polls.
9 am: Cane bomb found near Rafiganj (Aurangabad, Bihar) poll booth no. 144. Voting not started there
8:43 am: Polling interrupted by tech snag in EVM machine in Sasaram polling booth 135, Bikramganj polling booth 64 & Dinara polling booth 99 & 112
8:30 am: Jehanabad (Bihar): RSLP MP Arun Kumar casts his vote for Bihar Polls
7:42 am: Polling begins in Polling Booth 247, Jehanabad (Bihar)
7:35 am: Polling not started in Polling Booth 247, Jehanabad (Bihar) due to a technical snag with EVM machines.
7:30 am: Voting begins for second phase of Bihar assembly elections.
People queueing up to cast their vote for #BiharPolls, in Aurangabad (Bihar). pic.twitter.com/uh6HJ6z3dm
— ANI (@ANI_news) October 16, 2015
(Source: ANI tweets)
Details of second phase elections:
A total of 456 candidates, including 32 women, are contesting in the second phase of the elections.
For the second phase of Bihar assembly elections, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has once again fielded highest number of candidates – 32 –, while the Bharatiya Janata Party has fielded 12. Communist Party of India (CPI) has fielded 13 candidates, Janata Dal (United) 13, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) for 13 and the Congress 6.
Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) is contesting only 3 seats, while Rashtriya Lok Samata Party, and The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) is contesting 6 seats each.
Jitan Ram Manjhi of Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) is contesting the polls from Makhdumpur seat in Jehanabad.
The Bihar assembly elections will be held in five-phase, with the last phase to be held on 5 November. The result will be declared on 8 November.
The 2015 assembly elections in Bihar holds great significance in the history of Bihar politics as the BJP is trying to gain its foothold after coming to power in the Centre in May last year.
The NDA alliance – comprising the BJP, Janshakti Party, Rashtriya Lok Samata Party and the Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) – is fighting against the grand alliance (Mahagathbandhan) of Nitish Kumar's JD(U), Lalu Prasad Yadav's RJD and the Indian National Congress led by party president Sonia Gandhi and vice president Rahul Gandhi.
The other parties that are in the fray are the Samajawadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, Nationalist Congress Party, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) and others. They are projected to win 3-12 seats in the elections.
Many pre-poll survey findings have projected the BJP-led NDA's victory with slight margin in seat sharing against the Grand Alliance, but a couple of poll surveys have suggested that the JD(U)-led alliance may win the elections with majority seats.
