West Bengal recorded a voter turnout of 45 per cent till 11 AM in six seats and Bihar 15 per cent till 10 AM in seven seats in the eighth phase of Lok Sabha elections in the two states in eastern India.
Prominent among the 118 candidates in Bihar are LJP President Ramvilas Paswan from Hajipur and former Bihar chief minister and RJD candidate Rabri Devi from Saran, besides Rajiv Pratap Rudy of BJP from the same seat.
In West Bengal, notable among the 72 nominees are 9 time MP CPI(M)'s Basudeb Acharia, actress Moonmoon Sen of Trinamool Congress from Bankura, singer Babul Suprio of BJP from Asansol and yesteryear actress Sandhya Roy of Trinamool Congress from Midnapore.
In Bihar, Sheohar registered 15 per cent voting, Sitamarhi 13 per cent, Muzaffarpur 18 per cent, Maharajganj 16 per cent, Saran 16 per cent, Hajipur (SC reserved) 16.15 per cent and Ujiyarpur 12.5 per cent respectively till 10 AM, an Election Office statement said.
Glitches in EVMs were reported in some places, while in Sitamarhi voters were boycotting the polls in some booths complaining of lack of development.
Bypoll to two Assembly seats of Chiraia and Maharajganj is also underway.
The Indo-Nepal border was sealed while 66,211 security personnel are deployed and two helicopters are keeping a watch from the sky.
Voting time was curtailed by two hours till 4 PM in 10 assembly segments in the seven LS seats as they fell in Maoist-hit areas. Voting would end at 6 PM in other places.
In West Bengal, Chief Electoral Officer Sunil Gupta said, "Over 45 per cent polling was recorded on an average in the first four hours of polling."
Elections are being held in six Parliamentary constituencies of Jhargram, Midnapore, Purulia, Bankura, Bishnupur and Asansol.
Some EVMs had to be replaced after mock polling.
In Midnapore, the 'MP' sticker on CPI candidate Prabodh Panda's car was removed allegedly by Trinamool Congress supporters when he went to cast his vote, police sources said.
The Election Commission is providing stepped up security for Jangalmahal area with the deployment of adequate central forces in and around all Maoist-hit polling stations.
Webcasting and live monitoring of sensitive areas is being held.
By-election to Kotulpur(SC) Assembly seat in Bankura district is underway.
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