Patna, October 20: Bihar’s borders with Nepal and West Bengal have been sealed and security put on a high alert as the stage is set for the first phase of Assembly elections on October 21 in which 47 of 243 constituencies go to polls.
Superintendent of Police of Madhubani district Ajitabh Kumar said Modhwapur, Khutauni, Fulparas and Laukaha areas in the district have been sealed off and were under the surveillance of SSB and other security agencies for any possible movement of trouble-makers.
Similarly, a special watch is being kept in Supaul, Purnia, Kishanganj and Araria districts since this morning with specially-trained dogs mobilised for the purpose.
Director-General of Police Neelmani said that elaborate security arrangaments have been made to ensure that the elections are free, fair and peaceful.
“We have adequate number of CPMFs and armed policemen from other states at our disposal to maintain security,” Neelmani said.
Additional Chief Electoral Officer Kumar Anshumali told PTI, “Efforts have been made to man most of the polling centres with CPMF personnel. Also police patrolling between one polling station and another would be intensified.”
For the first time, he said, the Election Commission has introduced live webcast of the voting process from 20 per cent of the booths directly to be monitored by the district election officers, the office of Chief Electoral Officer Sudhir Kumar Rakesh and the Election Commission in New Delhi.
The entire process of voting would be videographed, Anshumali said.
“Over 45,000 personnel of the Central paramilitary forces have been made available by the Centre for free, fair and peaceful polls,” a senior official in the home department said.
The state government had demanded 600 companies of central paramilitary forces, but the Central government agreed to provide 450 companies for the six-phase polls, an official said. Each company comprises 100 personnel and the deployment would be made directly under the supervision of the Election Commission, officials said.
Prominent among the 631, including 52 women, contestants are senior Janata Dal (United) ministers, Vijendra Prasad Yadav, Narendra Narain Yadav, Renu Kumari, Hari Prasad Sah, Congress nominee Ranjeet Ranjan, wife of incarcerated former MP Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav, State Congress chief Choudhary Mehboob Ali Kaiser and Congress candidate Lovely Anand.
The Congress and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) are contesting all 47 seats. The ruling JD(U) will be contesting 26 seats and its ally Bharatiya Janata Party in 21 seats.
The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) is contesting 31 seats and its ally Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) 16 seats, while the Communist Party of India(Marxist) has put up candidates at seven seats. Communist Party of India has put up candidates in 11 seats, CPI(ML) in 17 and Nationalist Congress Party in 33 seats.
Around 1.07 crore, including 50.2 lakh women and 3829 service voters, are eligible to exercise their franchise at 10,454 polling centres spread over the constituencies where the commission has plans to use 11968 (CU) and 13760 (BU) Electronic Voting Machines.
Multi-cornered contests are lined up in all 47 Assembly segments of Saharsa, Madhepura, Madhubani, Supaul, Purnia, Araria, Katihar and Kishanganj districts.
Major issues included post-Kosi flood management, rehabilitation of the displaced and a pending railway project in Madhepura.
Election officials said polling would be held from 7 AM to 5 PM in all constituencies barring the Maoist-hit ones where elections would end at 3 PM.
Neelmani said as preventive measures in the run-up to the election since September 8, the police seized 577 arms, 11,156 rounds of ammunition, besides huge quantity of explosive, including 11 cane bombs, 27 quintals of ammonium nitrat, 200 kg gel.
The police also recovered 1.70 lakh detonators and unearthed 23 illegal mini gun factories in various parts of the state, he said.
Similarly, action was taken against 3,25,135 persons under 107 of the CRPC, he said.
Neelmani said the police also executed non-bailable warrants of arrest against 54,032 accused and got deposited 8776 firearms from people at different places during the period.
–PTI