Patna, May 28 (PTI): Around 18 per cent polling was registered till 10am on Monday in the bypoll to Jokihat Assembly seat in Bihar, a top election official said and 18 per cent polling was also recorded in the first two hours of bypolls to Silli Assembly seat while around 14 per cent votes were cast in Gomia Assembly constituency in Jharkhand.
Tight security arrangements are in place to ensure free and fair polls to the Assembly seat, which fell vacant after the resignation of sitting legislator Sarfaraz Alam.
Till 9am, 18.22 per cent and 14.14 polling were recorded at Silli and Gomia Assembly constitiencies respectively, the election official said.
The bypoll in Bihar is being viewed as a test of strength between Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal(United) and the RJD of Lalu Prasad.
Altogether 2.70 voters are eligible to exercise their franchise to decide the fate of nine candidates contesting from this seat in Araria district.
Having won the seat in 2015 on a JD(U) ticket, Alam switched over to the Rashtriya Janata Dal in March this year and got elected to the Lok Sabha from Araria in a bypoll necessitated by the death of his father Mohd Taslimuddin.
Taslimuddin himself had represented Jokihat in the Bihar assembly for a record five times.
His younger son Shahnawaz Alam has been fielded by the RJD while the JD(U) candidate is Murshid Alam, a former Panchayat Mukhiya.
Although the contest is primarily between these two candidates, six Independents, besides Ghousul Azam - who represents controversial Madhepura MP Pappu Yadav's fledgling outfit Jan Adhikar Party - are also in the fray.
The bypolls to Silli Assembly seat in Ranchi district and Gomia Assembly seat in Bokaro district were being held amidst tight security arrangements and no incidents of violence were reported so far, an election official said.
The bypolls to Gomia and Silli Assembly seats were necessitated following the conviction of Yogendra Mahto (Gomia) and Amit Mahto (Silli). Both were elected on JMM tickets in the 2014 Assembly election.
In Gomia Assembly seat, though there is a total of 13 candidates, but the main contest is between BJP's Madhavlal Singh, AJSU's Lambodar Mahto and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha's Babita Devi, wife of disqualified MLA Yogendra Mahto.
In Silli, of the total ten candidates, the main contest will be between the former deputy chief minister and AJSU president Sudesh Mahto and Seema Mahto, wife of disqualified MLA Amit Mahto.
