47% voting in seven Lok Sabha seats in Bihar till 3pm

About 47% voting was registered till 3:00 pm today in seven Lok Sabha seats in Bihar in the fifth phase of elections in the state.

Sheohar registered 50% voting, Sitamarhi 47%, Muzaffarpur 51%, Maharajganj 45%, Saran 45%, Hajipur (SC reserved) 43.2% and Ujiyarpur 48%, the Election Office statement said.

In Saran, a bomb was found about 500 metre from a polling station in Marhaura which was defused.

There were reports of fracas between workers of RJD and BJP in Sonepur Assembly area which was part of Saran Lok Sabha constituency.

In Muzaffarpur, two low intensity bombs exploded in a field in Karathua village near a booth, police sources said.

Among the 118 candidates in fray were LJP President Ramvilas Paswan from Hajipur, former chief minister Rabri Devi of RJD and Rajiv Pratap Rudy of BJP from Saran.

In Hajipur, a 100-year-old man was brought on a charpoy to a polling station to vote.

In Samastipur, people were seen going on horse and elephant back to cast their votes.

Bypoll to the two Assembly seats of Chiraia and Maharajganj was also underway.

Altogether 66,211 security personnel were manning polling stations while the Indo-Nepal border was sealed. Two helicopters were carrying out aerial surveillance.