Patna, Oct 23 (PTI) Polling for biennial elections to eight Bihar Legislative Council seats was underway on Friday amid tight security, with 5.32 lakh voters eligible to decide the fate of 150 candidates, officials said.
Voting commenced at 8 am and will continue till 4 pm for four Graduates and four Teachers constituencies, they said.
The combined electorate stands at 5,32,847, including 1,46,611 women and 37 third-gender voters, across 933 polling stations. Counting of votes will take place on October 27, they added.
“The polling has so far been peaceful,” an official said.
The contest in the Patna Graduates constituency has drawn attention following an open rift within the JD(U), with Mokama MLA Anant Singh backing Jan Suraaj Party candidate Anuj Singh against his own party’s nominee, Neeraj Kumar.
Kumar, an ex-minister and a close aide of former chief minister Nitish Kumar, is seeking a fourth consecutive term from the seat.
Anant Singh has extended support to Anuj Singh, alleging that Neeraj Kumar had worked against him during last year’s assembly elections.
Apart from Patna Graduates, the other constituencies where polling is underway are Darbhanga Graduates, Tirhut Graduates, Kosi Graduates, Patna Teachers, Darbhanga Teachers, Tirhut Teachers and Saran Teachers.
The terms of the sitting MLCs are due to expire on November 16.
The BJP has fielded candidates in four constituencies, including three sitting MLCs seeking re-election, while the JD(U) has nominated candidates for the remaining four seats.
The BJP nominees are MLCs Nawal Kishor Yadav, NK Yadav and Sarvesh Kumar, who are seeking re-election from Patna Teachers, Kosi Graduates and Tirhut Graduates, respectively.
The party has also fielded Narendra Kumar Singh from Tirhut Teachers, a seat currently held by Sanjay Kumar Singh of the CPI, a constituent of the opposition INDIA bloc.
The Jan Suraaj Party, led by Prashant Kishor, is contesting all eight seats. The party revised its candidate list after its initial announcement, replacing Bhushan Jha with Shyam Nandan Yadav in Tirhut Teachers and Ravindra Yadav with Mohammad Imtiyaz (Noorani) in Darbhanga Graduates. PTI PKD SUK MNB SOM BDC
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