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Patna, Nov 6 (IANS) Bihar Director General of Police (DGP) Vinay Kumar on Thursday said the voting process is going on peacefully across the state and no untoward incident has taken place anywhere.
Speaking to IANS, Vinay Kumar said, “The voting process is going on peacefully across Bihar. Paramilitary forces have been deployed at all polling stations, as well as horse and sector patrolling. There are no reports of unrest so far. Voting has been going on for about four hours and is going on smoothly. I have also cast my vote at my polling station in Co-operative Colony 432.”
He said, “We can see paramilitary forces deployed at every polling station, who are ensuring that the elections are being conducted peacefully. I appeal to all voters to come out and exercise their right to vote. It is the most precious right in a democracy.”
The DGP further said that awareness campaigns are being run in many areas with the help of brand ambassadors.
“Various activities and appeals have been organized to encourage people to vote. Later in the day, we will visit areas around Patna and review how the voting progressed,” he said.
Meanwhile, according to the Chief Electoral Officer, an average of 27.65 per cent voting was recorded till 11 am in the 18 districts, where voting is underway for the first phase of Bihar Assembly elections.
While Begusarai (30.37 per cent), Lakhisarai (30.32 per cent), Saharsa (29.68 per cent), and Muzaffarpur (29.66 per cent) saw comparatively higher participation, several other districts also reported moderate to encouraging voting figures till mid-morning.
Patna district witnessed the lowest voting percentage so far at 23.71 percent.
In Madhepura, 28.46 per cent of registered voters had cast their votes till 11 am, while in Darbhanga, 26.07 per cent had voted. In Gopalganj this figure stood at 30.04 percent, indicating consistent participation since the start of voting. Voting was 27.09 percent in Siwan and 28.52 percent in Saran, while 28.67 percent was recorded in Vaishali. Samastipur also had good participation of 27.92 percent.
Meanwhile, voting was 28.96 percent in Khagaria, 26.68 percent in Munger and 26.04 percent in Sheikhpura. Till 11 am, 26.86 percent voting took place in Nalanda, 28.02 percent in Bhojpur and 26.76 percent in Buxar.
A total of 1,314 candidates are in the fray in this phase – including 1,192 men and 122 women. The Election Commission said 3.75 crore voters, including 1.98 crore men, 1.76 crore women and 758 third-gender voters, are eligible to vote at 45,341 polling stations, of which 36,733 are in rural and 8,608 in urban areas.
ECI has 320 model booths, 926 women-managed stations and 107 managed by persons with disabilities. Webcasting facilities have been installed at all polling stations for real-time monitoring.
Tight security arrangements have been made to ensure smooth voting. More than 15 battalions of police and paramilitary forces have been deployed in 18 districts, with special attention given to sensitive and Naxal-affected areas, where polling will end an hour earlier at 5 pm. Mock polling exercises were conducted early in the morning to verify the systems before polling begins.
–IANS
JK/DPB