1st phase of polling for ULBs passes off peacefully with 59.20% electors’ turn out

Addressing media persons, state election commissioner (SEC) Deepak Prasad said that four EVMs were reported to have developed technical snags and were replaced; elections in eight out of the 3,346 wards have been postponed due to the deaths of contestants

PATNA: Polling for the first phase of the urban local bodies (ULBs) in 37 districts of the state, except Sheohar, passed off peacefully on Sunday with stray incidents of skirmishes and electronic voting machine (EVM) malfunctioning. Around 150 persons were arrested on the charges of creating disturbances near the booths. At the same time, ₹1.19 lakh in cash was recovered during the polling, which saw around 59.20% electors’ turn out, state election officials said.

At a polling booth in Phulwarisharif, Patna on Sunday. (Santosh Kumar/HT Photo)

Addressing media persons, state election commissioner (SEC) Deepak Prasad said that four EVMs were reported to have developed technical snags and were replaced; elections in eight out of the 3,346 wards have been postponed due to the deaths of contestants. “Arwal reported the highest turnout of electors, where 67.71% voters exercised their franchise, whereas Banka witnessed the lowest turnout of 45.78%,” said the SEC, adding that electors’ turnout in these areas was a bit high than last time.

The polling was conducted at 6,965 booths set up at 3,593 polling stations and as many as 21,287 candidates were in the fray for 3,658 posts, including 3,346 wards councillors, 156 each of chief councillors and 156 deputy chief councillors. Elections were held in 156 out of the 224 ULBs in the first phase of polling on Sunday.

Elections were countermanded in eight wards, one each of Khagardia, Saharsa, Siwan, Gaya, Nawada, Samastipur, Patna, Bhagalpur, and West Champaran due to the deaths of contestants after the finalisation of the candidates. “Nearly 50,000 police personnel, including 11,433 officers, were deployed to ensure free and fair voting,” said Prasad, adding that votes would be counted on Tuesday and results would be declared the same day.