Bihar to go for seven phase polling

Bihar will witness a seven-phase polling for its 40 Lok Sabha seats, state Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) H R Srinivasan said Sunday.

The polls will start with the first phase on April 11 and will end on May 19 when the seventh and last phase will be held.

The decision to carry out elections in seven phases has been made keeping in mind availability and movement of security forces, Srinivasan said.

A total of 7.06 crore voters will exercise their franchise on 72,723 polling stations, he said.

As per schedule, the four constituencies which will go to polls on April 11 are Aurangabad, Gaya, Nawada, Jamui.

Five constituencies - Kishanganj, Katihar, Purnea, Bhagalpur and Banka - will vote on April 18, the second phase.

While Jhanjharpur, Supaul, Araria, Madhepura and Khagaria will witness polling on April 23, Darbhanga, Ujiarpur, Samastipur, Begusarai and Munger will go to polls on April 29 in fourth phase, Srinivasan told reporters.

Sitamarhi, Madhubani, Muzaffarpur, Saran and Hajipur will vote on May 6 in the phase, he said.

Voting will take place in eight constituencies of Valmikinagar, West Champaran, East Champaran, Sheohar, Vaishali, Gopalganj, Siwan and Maharajganj in the sixth phase on May 12.

Patna Saheb, Nalanda, Patliputra, Ara, Buxar, Sasaram, Jehanbad and Karakat will vote in the seventh and final phase on May 19.

By-polls for Assembly constituencies of Dehri (in Rohtas district) and Nawada will take place simultaneously along with the Lok Sabha polls, Srinivasan said.

Both the seats fell vacant after the conviction of RJD MLAs Raj Ballabh Yadav (Nawada) and Iliyas Hussain (Dehri).

Out of total 7.06 crore voters of the state, 15.50 lakh will exercise their franchise for the first time, the CEO said.