Polling picks up pace in eight LS seats in Bihar

Patna, June 1 (IANS) After a sluggish start, polling is slowly picking up pace in the eight seats in Bihar where voting is being held in the seventh and final phase of the Lok Sabha elections on Saturday.

As per the Election Commission of India, Bihar reported a voter turnout of 35.65 per cent till 1 p.m., up from the 24.25 per cent polling recorded till 11 a.m.

Polling is currently underway in Patliputra, Karakat, Sasaram, Buxar, Jahanabad, Patna Sahib, Nalanda, and Arrah Lok Sabha constituencies, along with the Assembly bypoll at Agiaon in Bhojpur district.

Patliputra reported maximum polling till 1 p.m. at 40.78 per cent, followed by Karakat (39.53), Buxar (37.79), Sasaram (37.12), Jehanabad (36.66), Arrah (33.07), Nalanda (32.94), and Patna Sahib (29.22).

In Karakat, there is a triangular contest after Bhojpuri superstar Pawan Singh joined the fray against NDA's Upendra Kushwaha and Rajaram Singh Kushwaha of the Grand Alliance.

In Buxar, while the main contest is between Mithlesh Tiwari of the BJP and Sudhakar Singh of the RJD, the entries of former IPS officer Anand Mishra and Dadan Singh Yadav alias Dadan Pehalwan have spiced up the contest.

In Arrah, it is a direct contest between BJP’s R.K. Singh and Sudama Prasad of the CPI(ML).

In Patliputra, Lalu Prasad Yadav's eldest daughter Misa Bharti is in the fray for the RJD against Ram Kripal Yadav of the BJP.

Jahanabad is expected to see a tough battle between JD-U's sitting MP Chandeshwar Prasad Chandravanshi and Surendra Yadav of the RJD ticket. In 2019, Chandravansi won by a slender margin of 1,751 votes.

Patna Sahib is considered a stronghold of the BJP where the party has renominated Ravi Shankar Prasad who is pitted against former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar's son Anshul Avijit.

In Sasaram, Shivesh Ram, son of former MP Munilal Ram, is contesting on a BJP ticket against Manoj Kumar of the Congress.

The Nalanda Lok Sabha seat is considered to be the strongest fort of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, where JD-U candidate Kaushalendra Kumar is seeking victory for the fourth straight term against Sandeep Saurav of the CPI-ML.