Not much poll violence in Bihar during the IInd phase: CEC

Chief Election Commissioner TS Krishna Murthy has said that there was not much violence in Bihar during the second phase of polling.

As the Election Commission grappled with allegations of poll irregularities in some key Lok Sabha constituencies in Bihar, Chief Election Commissioner TS Krishna Murthy on Friday said there was "not much violence" in Bihar during the second phase of polling.

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"In the second phase of polling in Bihar, there is not much violence", the CEC said.

Observing that the Commission had taken reasonable steps with the available resources to contain poll-related violence, Murthy said "as compared to last Parliamentary elections, the extent of violence is less now".

Dismissing suggestions that the Commission could not take decisions on certain key issues like Lucknow saree- distribution incident, he said the Commission could take a decision only after proper verification.

On Patna High Court's directive on countermanding polls in constituencies contested by persons who were in jails, Murthy said implementation of the order would have "lot of practical problems".

"While nobody doubts the need to prevent criminals entering politics, there should be a proper yardstick which will be easy to implement", he said.