Long queues outside polling stations in Bihar's Sheohar, Siwan LS seats

Patna, May 25 (IANS) Voting in eight Lok Sabha constituencies of Bihar in the sixth phase was underway on Saturday and enthusiasm was visible among voters at several places.

In the Sheohar Lok Sabha seat, voters were seen in long queues waiting patiently outside the polling booths. Tight security arrangements have been made at all polling stations in the constituency. The District Election Office said that 1,865 polling stations have been set up in the Lok Sabha constituency.

No candidate will be able to set up his slip centre within a radius of 200 meters of the polling station, while no one is allowed to carry a mobile phone within a radius of 100 meters.

The official further said that the Election Commission is keeping an eye on 120 polling stations in Sheohar through webcasting while micro observers have been deputed at 84 polling stations. Apart from this, additional arrangements for videography have been made at all the model polling stations.

A total of 18,25,237 voters will exercise their franchise in the Sheohar Lok Sabha seat. The administration has also made full preparations to ensure that voters do not face any problems at the polling stations.

The main contest in Sheohar is between JD(U)'s Lovely Anand and RJD's Ritu Jaiswal.

In the Siwan Lok Sabha seat former MP Mohd. Shahabuddin's wife Hina Shahab is contesting as an independent. Vijayalakshmi Kushwaha from JD(U) and Awadh Bihari Chaudhary from RJD are in the fray against her.

There is tremendous enthusiasm among the voters there regarding voting. Tight security arrangements have been made at all the booths for voting. The Central Para Military Force has been deployed at sensitive polling stations.

Hina Shahab was one of the early voters to cast her vote in Siwan.

The election commission has set up 1,873 polling stations in the Lok Sabha seat. Out of which 1,015 booths have been declared sensitive. Three-tier security arrangements have been made at all the booths. The entire Lok Sabha constituency has been divided into 291 sectors. At the same time, 24 Rapid Action Force has been deployed. 65 zonal magistrates have also been appointed for fair and fearless voting in the constituency.

A total of 18,96,512 voters will cast their votes to elect an MP from the Siwan seat. Among these, the number of male voters is 9,87,808 while the number of female voters is 9,08, 649. The number of third-gender voters is 55. The Siwan Lok Sabha constituency comprises six Assembly constituencies -- Siwan, Jiradei, Darauli, Raghunathpur, Daraunda and Barharia. Of these, the Grand Alliance had won five seats and BJP was victorious in only one seat, Daraunda, in the 2020 Assembly election.