47% voting in Bihar till 3 p.m.

PTI Updated - May 07, 2014 at 04:23 PM.

About 47 per cent voting was registered till 3 p.m. today in seven Lok Sabha seats in Bihar in the fifth phase of elections in the state.

Sheohar registered 50 per cent voting, Sitamarhi 47 per cent, Muzaffarpur 51 per cent, Maharajganj 45 per cent, Saran 45 per cent, Hajipur (SC reserved) 43.2 per cent and Ujiyarpur 48 per cent, the Election Office statement said.

In Saran, a bomb was found about 500 metres from a polling station in Marhaura which was defused.

There were reports of fracas between workers of RJD and BJP in Sonepur Assembly area, which was part of Saran Lok Sabha constituency.

In Muzaffarpur, two low intensity bombs exploded at a field in Karathua village near a booth, police sources said.

Among the 118 candidates in the fray were LJP President Ramvilas Paswan from Hajipur, former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad’s wife Rabri Devi of RJD and Rajiv Pratap Rudy of BJP from Saran.

In Hajipur, a 100-year-old man was brought on a charpoy to a polling station to vote. In Samastipur, people were seen going on horse and elephant back to cast their votes.

Bypoll to the two Assembly seats of Chiraia and Maharajganj was also underway.

Altogether 66,211 security personnel were manning the polling stations, while the Indo-Nepal border was sealed. Two helicopters were carrying out aerial surveillance.

Published on May 7, 2014 10:45