Lok Sabha elections phase 2: 55% voting in Bihar, Purnea records highest turnout

Congress's Kishanganj MP Mohd Javed filed a police complaint, alleging that his opponents issued a fake statement in his name.

Polling in the five Lok Sabha constituencies in Bihar was conducted peacefully on Friday, with a provisional voter turnout of over 55 per cent. The polling started in the five Lok Sabha constituencies for Bihar – Kishanganj, Katihar, Purnia, Bhagalpur and Banka – at 7am and continued till 6pm.

Voters stand in a queue to cast their vote at a polling station during the second phase of the Lok Sabha Polls, at Dadri in Gautam Buddha Nagar District, Uttar Pradesh on Friday. (ANI)

"Voters who have entered polling booths before 6 pm, are being allowed to cast their votes", said Chief Electoral Officer, H R Srinivasa.

A total of 50 candidates are in the fray in these five Lok Sabha seats whose fate will be decided by over 93 lakh eligible voters.

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Purnea recorded the highest turnout among the five seats with over 61 per cent polling, followed by Kishanganj at 57.02 per cent, Katihar at 57.89 per cent, Banka at 50 per cent and Bhagalpur at 49.43 per cent.

“I urge people to exercise their franchise in large numbers. People must vote for the overall growth of the country as well as Bihar,” Deputy chief minister Vijay Kumar Sinha said.

All eyes are on the Purnea seat which is witnessing a three-cornered fight after Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav was denied a ticket from the INDIA bloc and decided to contest as independent. Pappu Yadav is up against Santosh Kushwaha of the JD(U) and Bima Bharti of the RJD.

Pappu Yadav had represented Purnia three times between 1991 and 2004.

He voiced concerns over alleged political harassment and conspiracies aimed towards him by the opposition parties in the region.

“I am a son who has received blessings. No matter how much people tried to put me down, tried to harass and murder me politically, including conspiracies to even harm and kill me, my car being seized, and harassment by the police prosecution. Some people even called the criminal and mafias against me, there has been so much mental torture in the past few days,” he said.

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Meanwhile, Kishanganj MP Mohd Javed, seeking re-election on a Congress ticket, filed a police complaint alleging that his opponents issued a fake statement in his name asking voters to vote in favour of another candidate.

"It was an attempt by my opponents to mislead voters of Kishanganj. I filed a complaint against the suspects last night," he told reporters.

In phase 1, the four seats of Bihar that went to polls recorded an average voter turnout of around 48 per cent.