Voting begins for second phase of Bihar polls
By IANSSaturday, October 23, 2010
PATNA - The second phase of the Bihar assembly elections began Sunday in 45 constituencies spread across the Tirhut-Mithilanchal belt where the opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal-Lok Janshakti Party have a strong base.
Voting began at 7 a.m. amid tight security. A total of 99,49,873 voters are eligible to vote in the second phase that will decide the fate of 623 candidates. Most of the 9,952 polling booths are in the rural areas.
Balloting will take place in six districts - Muzaffarpur, Darbhanga, Samastipur, Motihari, Sheohar and Sitamarhi.
In the first phase Thursday, balloting took place for 47 of Bihar’s 243 assembly seats.
The RJD has 19 legislators in the region going to the polls Sunday and the LJP has three. The ruling Janata Dal-United and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) together have 23 legislators.
The heavyweights in this phase include state JD-U president Vijay Kumar Choudhary, RJD state president Abdul Bari Siddiqui as well as minister Ramnath Thakur, son of the legendary Karpoori Thakur.
The next rounds of elections will be held Oct 28, Nov 1, 9 and 20. Votes will be counted Nov 24.
