Patna: Voting is underway on Monday for the by-poll to Kurhani assembly seat in Bihar. The poll percentage stood at 48% till 3 pm, an Election Commission official said. Polling began, amid tight security, at 7 am across 320 booths in the constituency, all manned by central paramilitary forces besides local police, and will continue till 6 pm.
The assembly segment has been divided into 39 sectors. The sector magistrates will discharge their duties under the supervision of nine zonal magistrates and one "super zonal magistrate". The by-poll has been necessitated by the disqualification of RJD MLA Anil Kumar Sahani from the assembly. Altogether 13 candidates, including five Independents, are in the fray. The main contenders are former MLAs Kedar Gupta and Manoj Singh Kushwaha, fielded by the BJP and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JD(U) respectively.
Others who are in the fray include Mohd Ghulam Murtaza (AIMIM) and Neelabh Kumar (VIP). Gupta had lost to Sahani, in the 2020 assembly polls, by a slender margin of around 700 votes. In the by-election, the RJD is backing the JD(U). The counting of votes will take place on December 8.
