Rampant Fraud Reported, 4 Dead in India Voting

Two government ministers were arrested and at least four people were killed Saturday amid reports of large-scale election fraud during voting in Bihar, India’s most lawless state.

Election-related unrest was also reported elsewhere in India during the fourth round of voting for a new federal Parliament. India’s national elections are staggered, with different parts of the country voting on different days.

The deaths in Bihar were far fewer than the 39 killed in last week’s polling there. This time, 75,000 police, reservists and soldiers were sent to prevent violence.

Fifty-one percent of the 80 million people eligible to vote Saturday cast their ballots in nine states, an election spokesman said. Voting is now completed in 418 of India’s 534 Parliament constituencies.

An exit poll broadcast on state television showed Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s National Democratic Alliance of 22 parties winning, as expected, over the opposition Congress Party.

In Bihar, police arrested the state’s junior minister for cooperatives, Shyam Bihari Prasad, and junior Agriculture Minister Shiv Shankar Yadav. Prasad was accused of instigating violence at a voting center, and Yadav was charged with carrying four rifles in his car.

Prasad denied the charges.