NEW DELHI, July 3: Polling for the Janata Dal (JD) presidential election in the states concluded peacefully with at least 762 National Council members out of a total of 1,O37 exercising their franchise today.

Only 46 of the 152 National Council members from Bihar cast their votes in the poll, which was held amidst unprecedented security. A stray attempt to disrupt the poll process by a group of Laloo loyalists led by Shyam Razak, MLA, marred the election scenario in Bihar. Officials said 20 Laloo activists, including Razak, were apprehended by the police.

In another incident, a group of Laloo loyalists burnt the effigy of Dal working president Sharad Yadav near the booth.

As many as 16 Lok Sabha MPs from Bihar and Karnataka and nine from the Rajya Sabha boycotted the poll following the call given by Bihar Chief Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav.

Several Union Ministers, including SR Bommai, RL Jalappa, Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, Kanti Singh, Jainarain Nishad, were among those who stayed away from the polling. The JD has 45 MPs in the Lok Sabha.

The election of Sharad Yadav as the next president of the party is a foregone conclusion, although formal counting of votes will begin on July 5. Prime Minister IK Gujral, former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda and Union Ministers S Jaipal Reddy, CM Ibrahim, Ram Vilas Paswan and Srikant Jena were among those who cast their votes. In Karnataka, Chief Minister JH Patel ensured that all State Ministers cast their votes. Initially, Deputy Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, RV Deshpande, Ramesh Jigajninagi, HC Mahdadevappa and Shankar Naik had decided to join the boycott call. Ram Kripal Yadav, a Laloo loyalist, said heavy polling reflected that ``bogus votes'' had been cast.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.