15 per cent voting in seven Lok Sabha seats in Bihar till 10 am

PATNA: Around 15 per cent voting was registered till 10 AM in seven Lok Sabha seats of Bihar including high profile Hajipur and Saran constituencies in the fifth phase of elections in the state today.

Till 10 AM , Sheohar registered 15 per cent voting, Sitamarhi recorded 13 per cent, Muzaffarpur 18 per cent, Maharajganj 16 per cent, Saran 16 per cent, Hajipur (SC, reserved) 16.15 per cent and Ujiyarpur 12.5 per cent respectively, an Election Office statement said.

There were reports of snag in EVMs at some places whereas in some booths of Sitamarhi, voters were boycotting the polls complaining of lack of development in their area.

LJP chief Ramvilas Paswan was seen moving around in different polling stations of Hajipur constituency.

Along with the seven Lok Sabha seats, voting is on for bypoll in the two Assembly seats of Chiraia and Maharajganj which together have bagged about 15 per cent voting till 10 AM.

LJP President Ramvilas Paswan is locked in a triangular fight in Hajipur seat with 93-year-old Ramsundar Das of JD(U) and Sanjeev Prasad Tony joint candidate of Congress and RJD.

In Saran seat, former Chief Minister Rabri Devi is facing triangular fight with Rajiv Pratap Rudy of BJP and Saleem Parvez.

There are 118 candidates in fray including 10 women nominees in the seven LS seats witnessing voting today.

Over 1.08 crore voters are expected to cast their votes in 9,804 polling stations amidst elaborate security arrangement.

The Indo-Nepal border has been sealed for the purpose. Two helicopters will carry out air surveillance while 66,211 jawans are manning the polling stations.

Voting time has been curtailed by two hours till 4 PM in 10 Assembly segments in the seven LS seats as they fall in naxal-hit areas. In rest of the places voting will end at 6 PM.