Bihar Assembly Elections Live Updates: 53.51% voter turnout recorded in Phase 2

94 seats, 1,463 candidates, 2.85 crore voters

Voting in 94 of the total 243 Assembly seats in Bihar began on Tuesday during the second phase of state elections. Over 2.85 crore eligibe voters will decide the fate of 1,463 candidates in fray.

The RJD has fielded 56 candidates in the second phase of elections, wherein it is in direct contest with the BJP on 27 seats and with the ally turned foe JD-U on 25 seats.

The BJP is contesting 46 seats and the JD-U 43 seats.

The Congress is contesting 24 seats, CPI and CPM four each, Lok Janshakti Party 52 and RLSP 36 seats.

As many as 41,362 polling stations have been set up across 17 districts, all of which except Patna, Bhagalpur, and Nalanda are situated north of the Ganges.

Maharajganj seat has a maximum of 27 candidates in the electoral battle and Daraula with only four in the second round of Assembly polls.

Prominent contestants in the fray include Rashtriya Janata Dal leader and Grand Alliance`s chief ministerial candidate Tejashwi Yadav who is recontesting the Raghopur seat and his brother Tej Pratap in the fray in Hassanpur seat in Samastipur district.

Other prominent faces in the fray in the second phase are RJD leaders Alok Kumar Mehta from Ujiyarpur and Shailesh Kumar from Bihpur, former parliamentarian Anand Mohan`s son Chetan Anand from Sheohar, former parliamentarian Rama Singh`s wife Beena Singh from Mahnar, and Congress leader Shatrughan Sinha`s son Luv from Bankipur.

Plurals Party leader Pushpam Priya Choudhary is also in the fray in Bankipur, apart from BJP`s Nitin Naveen.

Ministers Nandkishore Yadav, Randhir Singh, and Shravan Kumar are also in the fray from Patna Sahib, Madhuban and Nalanda segments. The prestige of 27 MLAs of the Grand Alliance is at stake.

(With IANS inputs)

Governors casts vote in Patna

Voting underway in second phase of Bihar polls

2015 results

In the 2015 elections, the Rashtriya Janata Dal of Lalu Prasad had bagged 33 of these seats, the JD-U 30 and the Congress seven whereas the NDA had won only 22 seats.

However, a lot of water has since flown down the rivers ever since. New political permutations and combinations have come into play in 2020 as compared with the 2015 polls.

Five years ago, Nitish Kumar`s JD-U fought the elections in alliance with the RJD and the Congress, whereas the NDA had Ram Vilas Paswan`s Lok Janshakti Party and Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP) in its camp.

In this poll fray, the JD-U has moved to the NDA camp, the LJP is fighting its own battle and the RLSP is a part of the Grand Democratic Secular Front.

Elections for the 243-seat Bihar Assembly are set to be held in three phases, out of which polling in the first phase was conducted on October 28.

After the November 3 voting for 94 seats, remaining 78 constituencies will go to polls on November 7. The counting of votes is slated for November 10.

https://twitter.com/ANI/status/1323477909483388928?s=20Make this celebration of democracy successful: PM Modi

Votes will be cast for the second phase in Bihar assembly elections today. My appeal to all voters is that they make this celebration of democracy successful by voting in large numbers. Follow social distancing and wear a mask along with other precautions.

CM Nitish Kumar casts vote

Chief Minister and JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar casts his vote in the second phase of Bihar polls, at a government school in Digha.

Sushil Modi casts his vote in Patna

Rabri, Tejashwi cast their vote

8.05% voting till 9 am

Poll Percentage at 11 am

PM Modi in Forbesganj

Poll Percentage at 1 pm

People queue up at a polling booth in Chapra

Voter turnout at 3 pm  

Bihar recorded a voter turnout of 44.07 per cent till 3 pm in the second phase of state Assembly elections on Tuesday, according to the Election Commission of India.

Watch: Onions pelted during Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's election rally in Madhubani's Harlakhi 

46.78 per cent voter turnout recorded till 5 pm

Union Minister and BJP leader RK Singh casts vote in Patna; says 'we are winning'

53.51% voter turnout recorded in Phase 2 

The 94 assembly constituencies that went to poll in the phase two of Bihar elections on Tuesday recorded 53.51 per cent turnout and the figure was likely to go up as voting continued beyond schedule in several places, the Election Commission said.

Check out Bihar elections phase 2 report