Brisk polling was reported from across 12 states in the second phase of Lok Sabha elections on Thursday, which was by and large peaceful barring certain incidents of violence in Naxal-infested Jharkhand. An executive magistrate Rajendra Prasad and a constable were wounded when Naxals lobbed a bomb at their vehicle near Dadi-Srirampur village in Giridh district in Jharkhand, police sources said. They were going to their assigned polling station in the district, about 200 kms from Ranchi, they said. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his wife Gursharan Gaur exercised their franchise at a polling station in Guwahati Lok Sabha segment in Assam amid high security. Brisk polling was reported from all the 140 constituencies spread across 12 states in the second round of the five-phased elections which would end at 1700 hrs in most places, except in Naxal-infested areas where it would close at 1500 hrs. While Orissa registered 12% of voting in the initial hours, Assam saw 20%, Andhra Pradesh (12.43%), Karnataka (10%), Jammu and Kashmir (8%), Jharkhand (20%) and Tripura (30%). Marred by stray violence by naxalites, the second and final phase of Lok Sabha elections in Jharkhand evoked between 45 and 50 per cent voting in the eight Lok Sabha seats and Jamtara assembly by poll. Security forces averted a blast when they discovered a twenty-kg bomb at Cheta Dabur in Giridih district. CRPF jawans resisted the Maoists attempt to disrupt polling in Bansdera in East Singhbhum, 165 km from the Jharkhand capital, after a fierce hour-long gun-fight. Bihar witnessed peaceful polling barring a landmine blast triggered by suspected Maoists in which five people were injured during the second phase of the Lok Sabha elections in 13 of the state's 40 constituencies on Thursday. Reports reaching here said dozens of villages boycotted the elections in over half a dozen constituencies, including Darbhanga, West Champaran, Sheohar and Muzaffarpur, to protest the lack of development. Two air force helicopters have been deployed for surveillance and the border with Nepal sealed to check any attempts at cross-border violence. The remaining two rounds of polling in Bihar will be held April 30 and May 7. The first phase was held April 16 for 13 seats. “Voting has ended rather peacefully with heavy polling recorded,” an election official said. “We are confident of winning the polls. Our performance and the various development measures we took in Assam would surely not go in vain,” Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi said after casting his vote. “The Congress in Assam would win a thumping majority and there would be a Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre,” Singh told journalists soon after casting his vote with his wife.
