Patna: Two RJD (Rashtriya Janata Dal) supporters and a constable were killed and several others, including JD-U candidate, Shushil Kumar Singh, injured as widespread violence marred the polling in 11 of the 40 Lok Sabha constituencies in Bihar where the turn out was 50 to 55 per cent.

Incidents of police firing, encounter, bomb explosions, clash, and booth grabbing were reported during the polling, held in the face of poll boycott call by two naxalite outfits.

JD-U MLA and candidate for Aurangabad, Singh, and his three supporters were injured when Congress workers threw stones at them while trying to capture a booth. Singh, who suffered head injuries, was admitted to hospital.

Elections 2004-The Drama unfolds...
Political Parties in India

RJD nominee for Patna, Ramkripal Yadav, escaped unhurt when miscreants exploded bombs near his vehicle in the Patna city locality. Yadav accused the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) of having masterminded the attack to eliminate him.

The bodies of two RJD activists were recovered by police from the railway line in Nawada LS constituency just before the poll began. The RJD activists, Ramashish Yadav and Pramod Biswakarma, who were abducted last night, were later killed.

Election office sources here said nearly 50 to 55 per cent voters exercised their franchise to decide the fate of 146 candidates in the fray in today's balloting.

Meanwhile, incidents of political clashes, encounters with militants in Chatra, Palamu and Dhanbad districts and efforts by the ultras to disrupt the poll process were reported in the newly formed State of Jharkhand where around 15 per cent voters exercised their franchise by noon in the first phase.

Polling is being held in six districts of Chatra, Hazaribag, Dhanbad, Koderma, Giridih and Palamu.

Supporters of BJP and the CPI (Communist Party of India) today clashed at Ramgarh in Hazaribag constituency where External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha and Opposition backed CPI candidate Bhubaneswar Prasad Mehta have locked horns.

In Lupung, Mehta's native village, a clash was reported among voters but no injury was reported.

The Deputy Commissioner, Manikant Azad, had ordered an enquiry after he received information of hundred per cent polling at booth number 115, Chandura in Barhi assembly segment of Hazaribag by 11 am.

Serpentine queues have been spotted both in urban and rural areas with women voters outnumbering men. An MCC (Maoist Communist Centre) activist was killed on the spot and three persons, including two polling officials and a CRPF (Central reserve Police Force) jawan, were injured in an encounter in Chatra district.

The naxals first exploded a landmine and then opened fire on polling officials, injuring a presiding officer, a patrolling magistrate and a CRPF jawan, who were on their way to a booth, Deputy Superintendent of Police Vinay Bharti said.

Bharti said the rest of the polling officials of a booth in Asaria have been sent back to the district headquarters, Chatra.