Patna, Nov 14 (IANS): The by-election voting for four Bihar Assembly seats was conducted smoothly on Wednesday, recording an average voter turnout of 52.84 per cent.

Among the constituencies, Belaganj in Gaya district saw the highest turnout with 56.21 per cent, followed by Ramgarh at 54.02 per cent, Imamganj (SC) at 51.01 per cent, and Tarari at 50.10 per cent.

According to a statement from the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Bihar, a total of 38 candidates, including 5 women, contested these four seats, representing an electorate of over 1.2 million registered voters.

A total of two candidates contested on the tickets of BSP, three candidates on the RJD tickets, two candidates of BJP and one each of HAMS, JD(U) and CPI-ML.

The Election Commission deployed 1,277 sets of ballot units, control units, and VVPAT (Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail) machines for the voting process.

During the course of the polling, officials replaced 11 ballot units, 17 control units, and 24 VVPAT machines to ensure smooth functioning and accurate voting.

For the recent Bihar Assembly by-polls, the Election Commission established a total of 1,273 polling stations across four constituencies, with a significant focus on rural areas.

In Tarari, there were 332 polling stations (304 rural, 28 urban), in Ramgarh 294 (282 rural, 12 urban), in Imamganj 346 (329 rural, 17 urban), and in Belaganj 305 (281 rural, 24 urban).

To ensure a safe voting environment, authorities implemented preventive actions under the Indian Citizen Security Act against 9,246 individuals and additional measures under the Bihar Crime Control Act against 175 individuals.

Additionally, enforcement operations led to the arrest of two individuals each from the Kaimur and Bhojpur districts, along with the seizure of one vehicle transporting liquor in Kaimur.

For security, 7,000 personnel and 2,550 home guard Jawans were deployed across these constituencies.

In addition the Gaya and Kaimur district administrations set up eight checkpoints along the borders with Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh respectively to prevent any unlawful activities that might disrupt the polling process.