In Bihar, Begusarai has highest turnout

Patna: Around 58.92 per cent of voting was recorded for the five Lok Sabha seats that went to polls in the fourth phase in Bihar on Monday. According to the SEC, Begusarai seat recorded the highest turnout at 61.27 per cent.

The BJP was locked in a tough fight with RJD on three seats — Begusarai, Darbhanga and Ujiyarpur.

In Begusarai, a three-cornered contest was seen between CPI’s star candidate Kanhaiya Kumar, BJP’ firebrand leader Giriraj Singh and RJD’s Tanveer Hassan. While all the three candidates are being seen as strong contenders, political analysts do not rule out the possibility of the vote-split as two political heavyweights — Kanhaiya Kumar and Giriraj Singh belonging to the same caste (Bhumihar) — were locked in a do or die battle.

However, RJD’s Tanveer Hassan dismissed speculations of vote-split in Begusarai. “Kanhaiya was nowhere in the contest. The poll was fought between the grand alliance and NDA in Begusarai,” Mr Hassan   said

As per an assessment, there are about 4.5 lakh Bhumihar voters in Begusarai, followed by 2.5 lakh Muslim and 80,000 dalit voters. BJP’s Bhola Singh had emerged as a winner in the 2014 general elections by defeating RJD candidate Tanveer Hassan by 58,000 votes.

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