Patna, May 13 (Reporter) An estimated 56.85 percent of the total 95.83 lakh electorate have exercised their franchise, amid tight security arrangements, till the end of the polling at 6 pm in five Lok Sabha constituencies in Bihar on Monday. The fate of 55 candidates including Union Ministers Giriraj Singh and Nityanand Rai have been sealed in the EVMs. The polling passed off peacefully in all five Parliamentary constituencies during the fourth of seven phased Lok Sabha election and no untoward incidents was reported from any place in the state. The Lok Sabha Seats where polling was held are-- Darbhanga, Ujiarpur , Samastipur, Begusarai and Munger. Chief Electoral Officer H R Srinivas said that 56.85 percent polling was recorded till 6 pm. It was 2.3 percent lower than polling recorded in same five constituencies during the 2019 Lok Sabha election, he informed. Srinivas said that polliing was held from 7 AM to 6 PM at all booths in five Parliamentary constituencies barring 119 booths in Suryagarha assembly segment of Munger Lok Sabha seat, where polliing ended at 4 PM due to security reasons. A polling staff Onkar Kumar Chaudhary died at booth number 210 in Munger district before start of the mock poll, he informed. The CEO, while responding to a query regarding low voting in comparison to 2019 Lok Sabha election, said that political leaders, celebrities and even media had made their best efforts to increase the polling percentage by making appeal to people to exercise their franchise. It was ultimately upto voters to come to booths to cast their votes, he remarked. The NDA, comprising the BJP, JD (U), and LJP, had won all these five seats five years back. The BJP fielded its candidates in three seats, with the JD (U) and LJP are in the race in one seat each. On the other hand, for the INDIA bloc, RJD is contesting in three seats, Congress and CPI are in the fray in one seat each. In Darbhanga, RJD fielded former Bihar Minister Lalit Kumar Yadav, while the BJP reposed faith in its sitting MP Gopal Ji Thakur. There is a straight fight between RJD and BJP in this seat. BJP candidate Gopal Ji Thakur had defeated RJD candidate Abdul Bari Siddiqui in this seat by a margin of more than 2.67 lakh votes in the 2019 Lok Sabha election. In Ujiarpur, the BJP fielded its senior leader and sitting MP Nityanand Rai, who is the Minister of State for Home Affairs in the Narendra Modi government. In 2019, he had defeated Upendra Kushwaha, then contesting as a candidate of the RLSP, a constituent of the opposition Grand Alliance. Rai had also won this seat by defeating Alok Mehta of the RJD in the 2014 Lok Sabha election. In Begusarai, Union Minister and senior BJP leader Giriraj Singh is pitted against Awadhesh Kumar Rai of the CPI. In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, Singh had defeated Kanhaiya Kumar of the CPI by a margin of more than 2.77 lakh votes. Former JD (U) president Rajeev Ranjan Singh, alias Lalan Singh, is facing a challenge from Anita Devi of the RJD in Munger. She is the newlywed wife of tainted RJD leader Ashok Mahto, against whom a number of criminal cases are pending. Similarly, political novice Shambhavi Chaudhary is contesting on an LJP (Ram Vilas) ticket from Samastipur. Congress has fielded Sunny Hazari against Chaudhary. While Chaudhary is the daughter of JD (U) leader Ashok Chaudhary, Hazari is the son of JD (U) leader Maheshwar Hazari. Both Ashok and Maheshwar are ministers in the Nitish cabinet. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had expressed his displeasure publicly over Sunny Hazari contesting on the Congress ticket against Shambhavi Chaudhary, the official candidate of the NDA. The total electorate of 95,83,662 including 50,49,656 males, 45,33,813 females, and 193 third genders, were entitled to press the EVM buttons at 9,447 booths, 32 of which were managed by women only, while 43 were model booths. The highest number of 13 candidates has locked horns in Ujiarpur, while the lowest 8 candidates are in the fray in Darbhanga Lok Sabha seat. In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the BJP won 17 seats, the JD (U) 16 seats and the LJP 6 seats, enabling the NDA to bag 39 of 40 seats in Bihar. On the other hand, Congress had bagged only one seat, while other constituents of the Grand Alliance, including RJD, had drawn blank. All constituents of the Grand Alliance are contesting as constituents of the India bloc in the ongoing Lok Sabha election. Polling was held in 14 of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in the first three phases of the seven-phased Lok Sabha elections in Bihar. The counting of votes would be taken up on June 4...////...