EC hails massive voter response as Bihar Phase 1 records 64.66% turnout

Bihar Elections: Voting for the first phase of the Bihar assembly elections was completed on Thursday. A record 64.66% turnout was recorded, which the Election Commission of India described as the state's "highest ever turnout." Voting took place on 121 seats in 18 districts, and the election was peaceful, although there were clashes and allegations of rigging at some places. The second phase of voting will take place on November 11, while the counting of votes is scheduled for November 14.

Did the voting percentage break old records this time?

According to the Election Commission, the highest voting percentage in the previous assembly elections in Bihar was 62.57% in the year 2000 and 64.6% in the Lok Sabha elections in 1998. The Commission said that this time the enthusiasm for voting was historic. Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar thanked the voters of Bihar for voting in large numbers.

The first phase of voting is in discussion at a time when a special revision of the voter list took place this year. During this period, 69 lakh names were removed and 21.5 lakh new voters were added. The process was criticized by the opposition, but the commission described it as transparent.

According to HT's analysis, the number of people voting in this phase could be more than the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and 2020 Assembly elections. The Commission said that out of 45,341 booths, data of about 41,943 booths had been received till late night, and the final percentage may increase further by 1–2%.

Where were the highest and lowest turnouts?

The highest voting was recorded in Meenapur at 77.62%. Bochahan, Kudhni, Sakra, and Kalyanpur were also the areas with more than 73% voting. Whereas in Patna's Kumbharar, only 39.57% voting took place, which is the lowest. Low voting was also recorded in Bankipur, Digha, and Biharsharif. There were a total of 3.75 crore voters in the voter list of this phase, of which about 1.76 crore were women.

How was the law and order situation?

At some places, boycotts of voting were also seen due to local issues, like people not casting their vote at one booth in Brahmapur of Buxar and some booths in Fatuha and Lakhisarai. The police department said that overall law and order remained under control. However, cases like the stone pelting on the convoy of Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Kumar Sinha in Lakhisarai and the attack on the car of CPI(ML) MLA Satyendra Yadav in Saran came to light.

Sinha alleged that RJD supporters are stopping Dalits and people belonging to extremely backward classes from voting. He said that this matter will be taken to the Commission. In response, RJD termed the allegations as false and said that the local people were only angry over broken drains and bad roads.

Which big leaders came to vote?

The action was taken due to the arrest of two fake voters from Darbhanga and the photograph of an EVM by a voter in Mahua, Vaishali. Many big leaders, including Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, exercised their franchise in the morning itself. While Rabri Devi, Tejashwi Yadav, and Lalu Prasad cast their votes with their families in Patna, Tej Pratap Yadav remained absent.

Several high-profile seats were in the fray in the first phase, including Siwan, Tarapur, Danapur, and Raghopur. A total of 1,314 candidates were in the fray in this phase, of which 122 are women. Voting began at 7 am amid tight security and was completed peacefully by evening.