NEW DELHI, 21 April 2004 — The vote of union minister and BJP candidate for the prestigious Patna Lok Sabha seat C.P. Thakur was canceled yesterday on the ground of breach of secrecy, election office sources said. Thakur’s wife and a few of his supporters were standing by his side when he was pressing the button on the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) at a booth on Fraser Road in Patna, they said.
According to the election rules, only the voter should be present in the enclosure while casting his vote unless he is infirm. Thakur is locked in a direct contest with RJD’s Ramkripal Yadav.
Along with other states, violence was also reported from Bihar, where two RJD supporters were killed and 11 persons injured, including three extremists, as incidents of encounter, bomb explosions, clash, booth grabbing and shootouts were reported during the polling in 11 of the 40 Lok Sabha constituencies in Bihar with 30 to 35 percent votes cast.
The bodies of two RJD activists were recovered by police from the railway line in Nawada Lok Sabha constituency just before the polling began. The RJD activists, Ramasish Yadav and Pramod Biswakarma, abducted last night, were later killed. Union minister and BJP candidate, Sanjay Paswan is contesting from Nawada.
Inspector General of Police (administration) Neelmani said that a CRPF patrol party escaped unhurt when the banned Maoist Communist Center (MCC) caused a powerful land mine blast near Banjari in Rohtas district. Three MCC men were critically injured in the encounter with the police.
Eight persons suffered injuries in bomb explosions, clashes and shootouts in Patna, Jehanabad, Barh, Ara and Gaya Lok Sabha constituencies.
Police said unidentified persons exploded a bomb at booth No. 131 at Gursahari in Barh Lok Sabha constituency of railway minister and senior JD-U leader, Nitish Kumar in which the hand of a youth was blown off.
Meanwhile, in a shocking incident in Jehanbad district the district magistrate manhandled Zee News crew.
Earlier, Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha escaped unhurt when his car came under attack on the Hazaribagh-Bishnugarh road in Jharkhand.
