Voting on in Bihar's 5 of 40 Lok Sabha polls

Patna, April 18 (IANS) Voting was on amid tight security on Thursday in five of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar in the second of seven-phase Lok Sabha elections.More than 85 lakh voters are eligible to decide the fate of 68 candidates in the fray in this round. According to officials, more than 50,000 security personnel have been deployed in the second round of polling in Bhagalpur, Banka, Katihar, Kishanganj and Purnea constituencies. Three helicopters have been requisitioned to provide air cover to security forces. "It is a slow start but polling will pick up in the next three hours," one official said. Prominent candidates in the fray are Congress leader Tarique Anwar from Katihar, RJD leader Jay Prakash Narayan Yadav from Banka and Bulo Mandal from Bhagalpur. There were reports of problems in electronic voting machines (EVMs) machines in Purnea, Katihar and Banka.
--IANS ik/mr