Bihar bypoll: Every fifth voter of polling booth has father of same name

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In a comedy of errors, almost every fifth voter of a polling booth in a Bihar Legislative Council constituency, where a by-election was held on Thursday, has the father of the same name.

Officials conceded that it was an "anomaly" in the electoral roll which would, however, not affect the poll process for the Tirhut Graduates' Constituency, where 18 candidates are in the fray.

The voters, numbering slightly over 1.5 lakh, are spread across 197 booths in the districts of Sitamarhi, Muzaffarpur, Vaishali and Sheohar.

The anomaly has come to light in the Aurai block of Muzaffarpur, where at one polling booth, "Munna Kumar" has been stated as the father's name for 138 out of 724 voters, Tirhut Divisional Commissioner Sarvanan M said.

"None of the voters would be deprived of their right to franchise because of the anomaly which seems to have been caused by some technical factors. Upon the completion of the by-election process, we will take necessary action," the commissioner told PTI over phone.

A multi-cornered contest was witnessed in the by-poll necessitated by the resignation of senior JD(U) leader Devesh Chandra Thakur, who is now the Sitamarhi MP.

Many of the candidates seem vexed at the comedy of errors.

"It is bizarre. So many voters, men and women of all age groups and of various religious affiliations, have the same name as the father," said Abhishek Jha, the JD(U)'s nominee in the by-poll.

Independent candidate Banshi Dhar Brijwasi alleged, "I had flagged the discrepancy before the authorities in time but no action was taken. The voters are worried".

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