In the first phase of the Bihar Assembly elections, voter turnout reached 60.13 % by 5 p.m. on Thursday, covering 121 seats across 18 districts, the Election Commission of India (ECI) says.
Begusarai district led the numbers, with 67.32 % of voters casting ballots by 5 p.m. Samastipur and Madhepura followed at 66.65 % and 65.74 % respectively. In Begusarai, the Bachhwara constituency (AC 142) saw the highest rate among districts, with 69.67 % of its eligible voters turning out by 5 p.m.
The overall turnout at 3 p.m. was 53.77 %. Patna district lagged behind, with only 48.69 % of voters cast their ballots by that time. At 3 p.m., other districts reported the following percentages: Bhojpur 50.07 %, Buxar 51.69 %, Darbhanga 51.75 %, Gopalganj 58.17 %, Khagaria 54.77 %, Lakhisarai 57.39 %, Madhepura 55.96 %, Munger 52.17 %, Muzaffarpur 58.40 %, Nalanda 52.32 %, Saharsa 55.22 %, Samastipur 56.35 %, Saran 54.60 %, Sheikhpur 49.37 %, Siwan 50.93 %, and Vaishali 53.63 %.
By 1 p.m., the average turnout across all 121 constituencies was 42.31 %. Only 27.65 % of voters had shown up by 11 a.m. Begusarai (30.37 %), Lakhisarai (30.32 %), Saharsa (29.68 %) and Muzaffarpur (29.66 %) had the highest early participation, while other regions were catching up as the day progressed.
The polling process ran smoothly with no major incidents reported. Thousands of voters walked to 45,341 polling stations, 36,733 in rural areas and 8,608 in urban centres. Among the 1,314 candidates contesting—1,192 men, 122 women—voters could also expect a mix of modern security measures: 320 model booths, 926 women‑managed booths, 107 booths for people with disabilities, and live webcast monitoring.
Security teams—including 15 police and paramilitary battalions—were stationed across the districts. Certain sensitive or Naxal‑affected areas ended voting an hour early at 5 p.m., following thorough mock polls earlier in the morning to confirm system readiness.
With one phase completed, the next round of Bihar Assembly elections will continue as more voters head to the polls.
Source: ianslive
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