While polling for the Daraunda Assembly seat went off peacefully,the voter turnout was merely 48 per cent even though political heavyweights of both the NDA and RJD had thrown their weight behind their respective candidates. The seat,which fell vacant after the death of JD-U MLA Jagmato Devi,saw a direct clash between Devis daughter-in-law Kavita Kumari and RJD nominee Parmeshwar Singh. Over 1,000 personnel of the central paramilitary forces as well as the Bihar Military Police and district police had been deployed at all 244 polling stations. The constituency has 2.26 lakh voters. Nine candidates are in the fray. The bypoll also caught public and media attention with the late Jagmato Devis son Ajay Singh,facing criminal cases,solemnising his marriage during the inauspicious pitarpakasha so as to get a JD-U ticket for his wife,Kavita Kumari. While Chief Minister Nitish Kumar,JD-U national president Sharad Yadav and Bihar Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi and other NDA leaders campaigned for Kavita Kumari,the RJD show was led by party chief Lalu Prasad and former Maharajganj MP Prabhunath Singh,who mostly camped in the constituency.
