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Longest general election comes to an end

Polling in five Lok Sabha constituencies in Bihar and Assam and repolling in 176 booths of Outer Manipur passed off peacefully today to complete the country's thirteenth general election.

Deputy Election Commissioner Subhas Pani said polling was peaceful except for a few incidents in the Purnea and Rajmahal Lok Sabha constituencies in Bihar and in Outer Manipur.

In Purnea, three persons, including a patrolling magistrate and a Home Guardsman, were injured in separate incidents of accidental firing by the state military police, Pani told reporters.

In Outer Manipur, an unidentified candidate snatched about 300 ballot papers from two polling booths in the Chandel assembly segment, leading to a scuffle, Pani said.

The Home Guardsman and a paanwala (betel-leaf vendor) were injured when the gun of a Bihar Military Police jawan went off accidentally in the Adarsh Vidyalaya booth in Barharah Bazaar in Purnea constituency. An agitated crowd then poured water into the ballot boxes, Pani said.

Two persons were arrested in Rajmahal after a patrolling magistrate was injured in accidental firing by the police. The magistrate was stated to be out of danger.

Voter turnout was 54 per cent in the four constituencies of Bihar, 70 per cent in Dhubri, Assam, and 27 per cent in Outer Manipur.

Four booths in Ukhrul and Chandel and a few others in Tamenglong reported zero polling.

Pani said a repoll, if necessary, will be held on Saturday. Counting will be taken up on Monday, November 1.

There were 61 candidates in the fray for the six seats with a total of 5.3 million voters.

Polling was held in Bhagalpur, Khagaria, Rajmahal and Purnea in Bihar and Dhubri in Assam and repolling in 176 stations in Outer Manipur.

Polling was postponed in the four constituencies in Bihar because of floods while in Dhubri, the killing of BJP candidate Pannalal Oswal had forced the Election Commission to delay voting. The EC had ordered a repoll in 176 booths in Outer Manipur following disruption of polling on October 3 due to large-scale violence.

Tight security was maintained in all the constituencies, especially those in Bihar, where shoot-at-sight orders were in place to ward off trouble-mongers.

UNI

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