Patna/Aurangabad/Gaya: Around 31.47 per cent of the 75 lakh voters in Bihar's four Lok Sabha constituencies have exercised their franchise till 1 pm on Friday, officials said.
Voting began at 7 a.m. and will continue till 6 p.m., a senior election official said. Voters will decide the fate of 38 candidates on these four seats.
Apart from the reserved seats of Gaya and Jamui, tight security arrangements have been made in Nawada and Aurangabad, where most of the nearly 5,000 polling stations have been marked as "sensitive".
Officials said that till 1 pm, more than 34.25 percent voters in Jamui Lok Sabha constituency, 33.99 percent in Aurangabad, 30.40 percent in Gaya and 27.24 percent in Nawada have exercised their franchise.
Earlier in the day, speaking to reporters in Gaya, former Bihar chief minister and Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) founder Jitan Ram Manjhi, who is contesting as an NDA candidate from Gaya, said, "Voters are casting their votes. Coming to cast. Voters are chasing." What our Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said is 'Pehle vote karen, phir jalpan' (Vote first, then have breakfast)".
Of the four seats, Nawada has the highest number of voters at 20.06 lakh with a total of eight candidates in the fray, although the main contest is between BJP's Rajya Sabha MP Vivek Thakur and RJD's Shravan Kushwaha, who is seeking entry into the Lok Sabha.
There are 18.18 lakh voters in Gaya, but there are maximum 14 candidates. Here NDA ally former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, who is just a few months away from turning 80, is making another attempt to enter Parliament.
Voting began at 7 a.m. and will continue till 6 p.m., a senior election official said. Voters will decide the fate of 38 candidates on these four seats.
Apart from the reserved seats of Gaya and Jamui, tight security arrangements have been made in Nawada and Aurangabad, where most of the nearly 5,000 polling stations have been marked as "sensitive".
Officials said that till 1 pm, more than 34.25 percent voters in Jamui Lok Sabha constituency, 33.99 percent in Aurangabad, 30.40 percent in Gaya and 27.24 percent in Nawada have exercised their franchise.
Earlier in the day, speaking to reporters in Gaya, former Bihar chief minister and Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) founder Jitan Ram Manjhi, who is contesting as an NDA candidate from Gaya, said, "Voters are casting their votes. Coming to cast. Voters are chasing." What our Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said is 'Pehle vote karen, phir jalpan' (Vote first, then have breakfast)".
Of the four seats, Nawada has the highest number of voters at 20.06 lakh with a total of eight candidates in the fray, although the main contest is between BJP's Rajya Sabha MP Vivek Thakur and RJD's Shravan Kushwaha, who is seeking entry into the Lok Sabha.
There are 18.18 lakh voters in Gaya, but there are maximum 14 candidates. Here NDA ally former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, who is just a few months away from turning 80, is making another attempt to enter Parliament.
