Dalit voters in Bihar protest

Chapra (Bihar), Apr 17 (ANI): Voters belonging to Dalit community in Bihar took to the streets as a mark of protest against certain persons preventing them from casting their votes at one of the booths in Lal Bazar near Chapra.

The Lal Bazar is a part of the Saran constituency from where Lalu Prasad of Rashtriya Janata Dal is facing Bharatiya Janata Party's Rajiv Pratap Rudy and Bahujan Samaj Party's Salim Pervez.

The irate protestors alleged that the hooligans from certain political parties tried to prevent them from casting votes on the candidates of their choice and were later attacked with knives.

"When we went to vote and as soon as we entered the polling booth they told me to vote on their candidate. They tried to force me when I opposed them. They then attacked me with knives. Around ten to fifteen persons attacked me at the same time and stabbed me with knives all over," said Pintu, a Dalit voter, Lal Bazar booth.

Infuriated, the Dalits blocked roads and raised slogans until the police personnel arrived and pacified the protestors.

Meanwhile, in Patna, Lalu Prasad accused his political rivals of indulging in electoral malpractice.

He termed the incident as a sheer failure of the State Government and demanded action against all those who were involved in preventing people from casting their votes.

"A lot was tried to disrupt the electoral process and I believe it might have happened in different places. People from weaker sections of society especially the Dalits were attacked in Chapra's Lal Bazaar by men of Awadhpura with knives. They are now suffering and fighting for their lives. This is a complete failure by the Nitish Kumar Government," he said.

As a part of the multi-phased elections, the first phase of polling was held in 124 Lok Sabha constituencies spread across 17 states and Centrally administered territories on Thursday. (ANI)