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Soroor Ahmed in Patna
Polling for the first phase of panchayat elections in Bihar started amid tight security and shoot-at-sight orders on Wednesday morning.
The first phase covers 1,731 panchayats spread over 113 blocks of 37 districts.
Though no reports of violence during polling have been received so far, some sixty candidates and as many supporters lost their lives in the run up to the elections.
Panchayat polls are being held in Bihar after a gap of 23 years.
Unlike assembly and parliamentary elections, voters in panchayat polls choose four candidates for four different posts -- mukhiya, member of panchayat samiti, member of gram samitis and member of zilla parishad.
With temperatures hovering around 42-43 degrees, there are not many long queues visible at polling booths.
The state has sealed its international border with Nepal and state borders with Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and West Bengal and deployed about 50,000 policemen and 57,000 home guards.
The state has also borrowed 17,000 rifles from neighbouring states -- 5,000 rifles each from West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh, 4,000 from Jharkhand and 3,000 from Uttar Pradesh.
Besides 300 candidates belonging to extremist organisations like MCC, Peoples War Group and Ranvir Sena, hundreds of hardened criminals or their wives are in the fray.
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