Over 8% polling recorded in five LS seats in Bihar till 9 am

Patna: Around 8.86 per cent of over 95.11 lakh voters in five Lok Sabha constituencies in Bihar have exercised their franchise till 9 am on Monday, officials said.

The polling began at 7 am in Muzaffarpur, Madhubani, Sitamarhi, Saran and Hajipur Lok Sabha constituency and will go on till 6 pm, a senior official at the CEO office said.

Over 95 lakh voters in these five seats will decide the electoral fate of 80 candidates at 9,436 polling stations.

Over 9.49 per cent of voters have exercised their franchise in Sitamarhi, 9.33 per cent in Muzaffarpur, 9.11 per cent in Madhubani, 9 per cent in Saran and 7.43 per cent in Hajipur till 9 am.

Of the total voters, 45.11 lakh are women, 21 lakh are under 29 years of age and 1.26 lakh are in the age group of 18-19 years.

Notable contestants include NDA ally Chirag Paswan in Hajipur, Lalu Prasad's daughter Rohini Acharya, who is pitted against two-term sitting BJP MP and former Union minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy in Saran, and Muzaffarpur's sitting MP Ajay Nishad, who crossed over to the Congress after being denied a BJP ticket for a third term.

Sudhir Kumar Ojha, an advocate who remains in the news for his petitions against top political figures, Bollywood stars and even foreign heads of state, is contesting from Muzaffarpur.