Naxalism-hit areas of Bihar to get two hours less polling time

Voters in six Lok Sabha constituencies of south Bihar which are affected by Naxalism will get two hours less to exercise their franchise, the Additional Chief Electoral Officer today said.
Polling in these areas will start at 7 am, but will end at 4 pm instead of 6 pm on April 10 in the first phase in Bihar, Additional Chief Electoral Officer R Lakshmanan told reporters here.
The Election Commission (EC) has issued a notification in this regard today and the Naxal-affected areas have been segregated on the lines of Legislative Assembly constituencies gripped with Left Wing Extremism, he said.

Six Lok Sabha seats of Bihar -- Sasaram (SC), Karakat, Aurangabad, Gaya (SC), Nawada and Jamui -- will go to polls on April 10.
Lakshamanan said the Assembly constituencies which would witness truncated polling time were Bhabhua, Chainpur, Chenari and Sasaram Assembly constituencies in Sasaram Lok Sabha seat; Dehri, Karakat, Goh and Nabinagar seats in Karakat LS constituency; Kutumba, Rafiganj, Gurua, Imamganj and Tekary Assembly seats in Aurangabad Parliamentary constituency; Sherghati, Barachatti and Bodh Gaya in Gaya LS constituency.
Rajauli and Gobindpur under Nawada Lok Sabha constituency, and Sikandra, Jamui, Jhajha and Chakai under Jamui Lok Sabha constituency.

Polling time in these areas has been increased by an hour in comparison to the 2009 general elections. The timings were 7 am to 3 pm in the previous elections, Lakshmanan said.

The last date for filing nominations for these six constituencies is March 20, with scrutiny to be done on the very next day. Candidatures could be withdrawn till March 24.
Meanwhile, the EC is keeping a close watch on dummy candidates so that election provisions were not misused and expenditure by such candidates would be tagged with the expenditure of the candidates for whom they are working, Lakshmanan said, adding FIRs could also be lodged if needed.