Bihar bypoll peaceful, over 59pc voter turnout recorded

Around 59.20 per cent of the 2.90 lakh voters exercised their franchise in the by-election to Bochahan assembly constituency by the end of the polling, he said.Bypoll to the seat was necessitated by the death of MLA Musafir Paswan, who had won on the ticket of Vikassheel Insaan Party VIP of Bollywood set designer-turned-politician Mukesh Sahani.

Polling was peaceful for by-election to Bihar's Bochahan assembly constituency on Tuesday with over 59 per cent of eligible electors casting their votes, an Election Commission official said. Voting in the assembly seat in Muzaffarpur district ended at 6 pm. ''The polling was peaceful as no untoward incident was reported from any part of the constituency,'' the EC official said. Around 59.20 per cent of the 2.90 lakh voters exercised their franchise in the by-election to Bochahan assembly constituency by the end of the polling, he said.

Bypoll to the seat was necessitated by the death of MLA Musafir Paswan, who had won on the ticket of Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) of Bollywood set designer-turned-politician Mukesh Sahani. The voter turnout in this by-election was around six per cent less than that of the 2020 assembly polls in the constituency, the official said.

The polling percentage in Bochahan was 65.19 per cent in the last assembly elections. More than 1,000 security personnel were deployed at 350 polling centres across the constituency. The counting of votes will take place on April 16.

Sahani, who initially wanted to field the deceased MLA's son Amar, recently lost his ministerial berth, and subsequently the trust of his prospective candidate. Amar jumped ship and is now in the fray as the candidate of the RJD, which his father had defeated to win the seat.

Sahani has now fielded Gita Devi, whose father Ramai Ram was the RJD candidate in the 2020 assembly polls.

The BJP has nominated Baby Kumari who enjoys the image of a “giant killer” in the constituency.

She had won the seat in 2015, contesting as an Independent, defeating Ramai Ram who had represented Bochahan multiple times and on tickets of various parties.

Also in the fray are the Congress, which appears to have been dumped by the RJD for good, four Independents and candidates of lesser parties, including AIMIM of Asaduddin Owaisi.