By IANS,
Patna : Voting in the by-poll to the Bihar assembly from the Purnia constituency was peacefully under way Saturday amid tight security, officials said.
“The poll process is going on peacefully,: Purnia District Magistrate N.Sharvan said.
There were no reports of any untoward incidents till now, he added.
Sharvan told IANS by telephone that the polling was slow in the first three hours due to heavy rains since Friday night but it is picking up.
“After rains stopped, people were seen in large numbers at polling booths,” he said.
Voters started casting their ballots at polling centres at 8 a.m. and it will continue till 5 p.m., poll officials said.
The by-election was necessitated following the murder of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator Raj Kishore Keshri in January this year.
Keshri was stabbed to death by Rupam Pathak, a school teacher, at his residence. Rupam alleged sexual exploitation by Keshri for years. Keshri’s widow Kiran Keshri is the BJP’s candidate for the seat this time.
About 2.31 lakh people are eligible to cast their votes in the by-poll to decide the fate of seven candidates.
The pre-poll scenario witnessed an apparent break in the ties between the Lalu Prasad-led Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Ram Vilas Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party (LJP).
The LJP has lent support to the Congress candidate Ramcharitra Yadav while the RJD is supporting Communist Party of India-Marxist nominee Amit Sarkar, son of slain party legislator Ajit Sarkar.