PATNA, India, 16 February 2005 — Three people were killed and 30 injured yesterday as bomb blasts, clashes, shootings and an attack on a Lok Janshakti Party(LJP) candidate’s house marred the second phase of election to 82 assembly seats in Bihar.
Police tried to disperse a crowd trying to stop voting in Saharsa district and fired into the mob, killing two men, said Arvind Pandey, a senio police officer.
RJD activist Upendra Yadav was killed and three persons were injured in a clash between supporters of two candidates at a polling station in the Sheikhpura assembly constituency in Lakhisarai district, Police Superintendent Baldeo Prasad said.
Tight security was in place along Bihar’s border with Nepal in Purnea, Supaul and Madhubani districts.
State election office sources said an estimated 50 to 55 percent of around 18 million voters exercised their franchise in the constituencies spread over 15 districts.
Moderate turnout was also reported during voting for 29 assembly seats in neighboring Jharkhand state. Over 23 million people were eligible to vote in the two states.
In Bihar, the ruling Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) of Railway Minister Lalu Prasad is sorely hoping to stay on in power after a 15-year uninterrupted rule. The opposition Janata Dal-United (JD-U)-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alliance is banking on hopes that the RJD would lose some of its support.
“The second phase is important, but it will be the last phase that will clinch our victory,” Lalu asserted in Patna well before the nine hours of balloting ended.
The RJD is also up against its allies in New Delhi, the Congress and the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), which are equally determined to wrest control of one of India’s most poorly developed but politically key states.
LJP President Ramvilas Paswan, whose friendship with Lalu during the 2004 parliamentary elections ended bitterly, was supremely confident of victory. “We are confident that an LJP-Congress government will be formed in Bihar,” Paswan said.
The opposition JD-U-BJP combine that has aggressively tried to bring down the RJD also displayed optimism. “This will be Lalu Prasad’s Waterloo,” proclaimed JD-U leader Nitish Kumar.
In Jharkhand, which is holding its first assembly elections since its creation in 2000, a security officer was injured when Maoist rebels opened fire on a paramilitary camp in Lohardagga district. But voting was largely peaceful in other areas.
Divisions in the ruling combine as well as the opposition have ensured multi-cornered contests for most seats.
The second phase is crucial for Jharkhand’s ruling BJP. Analysts say this phase will really decide who will rule the state. Chief Minister Arjun Munda of the BJP will be among 456 candidates whose fate will be decided.
— Additional input from agencies
