50 percent voting in Bihar till 2 p.m.

PATNA - An estimated 50 percent voters have exercised their franchise so far in the second phase of Bihar Assembly election on Sunday. olling that began at 7 a.m., will continue upto 5 p.m. except five constituencies of Minapur, Paru, Sahebganj, Sheohar and Belsand where it ends at 3 pm.

Earlier in the day, heavily-armed Maoists, who have called for a boycott of the polls, raided booth no. 166 in Runnisyedpur Assembly constituency in Sitamarhi district and set fire to an electronic voting machine.

According to sources, three poll personnel were reportedly missing after the incident.

In Muzaffarpur district, vehicles of state JD-U minister Dinesh Prasad Kushawaha and ruling BJP nominee Veena Devi were attacked at two different places in their respective Minapur and Gayghat constituencies.

While the minister escaped unhurt, his bodyguard suffered injuries in the attack.

Around 48 persons have so far been detained as part of preventive measures in Samastipur, Muzaffarpur and Sitamarhi districts.

Over 98 lakh electorates will decide the fate of 623 candidates including 46 women in 45constituencies spread over six districts of Muzaffarpur, East Champaran, Sitamarhi, Sheohar, Darbhanga and Samastipur.

Out of over 10 thousand polling booths, 3,700 have been declared super sensitive.

Political stalwarts whose fate will be decided include state RJD chief Abdul Bari Siddiqui (Alinagar), his JD(U) counterpart Vijay Kumar Choudhary (Sarairanjan), ministers Ramnath Thakur (Samastipur) and Shahid Ali Khan (Sursand).

The third phase of election will take place on October 28 for 48 seats, the fourth on November1 for 42 seats, the fifth phase on November 9 for 25 seats and the sixth and last phase on November 20 for 26 seats.

Counting of votes will take place on November 24. (ANI)