Patna, May 23: Amidst heavy security, repolling in 622 booths of Bettiah and Siwan parliamentary constituencies in Bihar will be held tomorrow. Repolling in 193 booths in Siwan and 429 booths in Bettiah - where balloting had taken place on April 26 in the second phase - was ordered by the Election Commission after going into the allegations of mass rigging and non-functioning of EVMs in these two constituencies.
While the incarcerated RJD strongman, Mohammad Shahabuddin, is locked in a three-cornered contest with JD-U nominee Om Prakash Yadav, and Amarnath Yadav of the CPI-ML at Siwan, Raghunath Jha (RJD), Madan Jaiswal of BJP and noted film-maker and independent candidate Prakash Jha are trying their luck from Bettiah Lok Sabha seat.
Nasim Ahmed and Faiyazul Azam are also contesting from the Bettiah seat as Samajwadi Party and BSP candidates respectively. Home Secretary H K Haldhar said today that the borders of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh had been sealed and district authorities instructed to deploy Central para-military forces at all polling booths so that elections could be conducted in a fair manner.
He said that in accordance with the directives of the EC, the district authority had been instructed to use the Bihar Military Police, district armed police personnel and home guards only for patrolling purposes.
All poling stations in the two constituencies would be manned by Central government employees drawn from outside the districts, the home secretary said.
Meanwhile, Prakash Jha has appealed to the EC to take over the entire polling machinery in Bettiah to hold free and fair repoll tomorrow.
Bureau Report