Patna:
The third phase of Bihar Assembly elections get underway today with 48 constituencies going to polls.
Over one crore voters will decide the fate of 785 candidates. Among the heavyweight candidates is Leader of the Opposition and former Chief Minister Rabri Devi.
(Complete Coverage: Battle for Bihar)Elaborate security preparations are in place in the state following the violence ahead of phase II elections, when voters defied the Naxal boycott threat and came out to vote.
Defying a poll boycott call by the Naxals, voter turnout in the second of six-phase elections in Bihar on October 24 was around 53 per cent, though some stray incidents including three poll officials going missing were reported.
Polling was held in 45 Assembly constituencies spread over six districts, some of them affected by Naxal menace.
The first phase recorded 53 per cent voting.