Tempers flare up as RJD candidate refuses to accept defeat

Police fired in the air on Thursday to disperse supporters of Heena Shahab, RJD candidate and wife of mafia don-turned-politician Mohd Shahabuddin, who demanded countermanding of polls in the Lok Sabha seat where she is trailing behind the NDA candidate by over one lakh votes.

Shahab, who had lost the Siwan seat in 2014 to BJP's Om Prakash Yadav, approached the Returning Officer with her application, claiming she found the outcome "at variance with the public mood witnessed during elections", police said.

"I refuse to accept the counting of votes taking place by EVMs and suspect some foul play. I demand that the counting be halted and election for the seat by countermanded," she said in a hand-written application.

Shahab is pitted against JD(U) MLA Kavita Singh, more than 10 years her junior and married to local muscleman Ajay Singh.

Mohd Shahabuddin, who is serving life sentence in a murder case, had represented the seat four times on the trot between 1996 and 2004.

Meanwhile, a clash erupted between supporters of the JD(U) and the RJD when word went out that the NDA candidate had won though counting was still in progress.

The RJD has fielded Surendra Prasad Yadav, an MLA from the adjoining district of Gaya, who is moving neck and neck with JD(U)'s Vijay Manjhi. Till 6 pm, the RJD candidate was trailing by a wafer-thin margin of about 1,000 votes.

Additional police deployment was subsequently made at the counting centre in Jehanabad to keep the situation under control, police said.