Bihar Assembly Elections: 13.13% Voter Turnout Recorded in First Two Hours of Polling

Patna — Bihar recorded an average 13.13% voter turnout till 9 a.m. on Thursday during the first phase of polling for the state Assembly elections, according to data released by the Election Commission of India (ECI). Voting began at 7 a.m. across 121 constituencies in 18 districts and will continue until 6 p.m.

Among the districts, Saharsa reported the highest turnout at 15.27%, followed by Begusarai (14.60%), Muzaffarpur (14.38%), Vaishali (14.30%), and Khagaria (14.15%). Other notable figures included Madhepura (13.74%), Gopalganj (13.97%), Siwan (13.35%), Saran (13.30%), Munger (13.37%), Lakhisarai (13.39%), and Buxar (13.28%). The state capital Patna recorded a relatively lower turnout of 11.22% in the first two hours.

A total of 1,314 candidates — including 1,192 men and 122 women — are contesting in this phase. The electorate comprises 3.75 crore voters, of which 1.98 crore are male, 1.76 crore female, and 758 third-gender voters.

Polling is being conducted across 45,341 stations, including 36,733 rural and 8,608 urban booths. Among these, the ECI has designated 320 model polling stations, 926 women-managed booths, and 107 booths managed by persons with disabilities. Webcasting facilities have been arranged at all polling locations for monitoring.

Voting in six Assembly constituencies located in Naxal-affected areas will conclude an hour earlier, at 5 p.m., for security reasons. A mock poll was conducted between 5 a.m. and 7 a.m. in the presence of booth-level agents before voting commenced.

Elaborate security arrangements have been made, with over 15 battalions of police and paramilitary forces deployed across the state. Special patrols have been stationed at sensitive and hyper-sensitive polling stations.

The Patna district administration confirmed that security personnel are deployed at every booth to ensure smooth voting and prevent any disturbances or misinformation.

With inputs from IANS