Patna (Bihar): A voter turnout of 13.13 per cent was recorded till 9 am in the first phase of the Bihar Assembly elections, according to the Election Commission of India.
The highest voter turnout of 15.27 per cent was recorded in Saharsa district of the state among all districts, while Lakhisarai recorded a sluggish turnout of 7 per cent.
As of 9 am, a voter turnout of 14.60 per cent was recorded in Begusarai district, followed by 13.11 per cent in Bhojpur, 13.28 per cent in Buxar, 12.48 per cent in Darbhanga, 13.97 per cent in Gopalganj, 14.15 per cent in Khagaria, 13.74 per cent in Madhepura, 13.37 per cent in Munger, 14.38 per cent in Muzaffarpur, 12.45 per cent in Nalanda, 11.22 per cent in Patna, 12.86 per cent in Samastipur, 13.30 per cent in Saran, 12.97 per cent in Sheikhpura, 13.35 per cent in Siwan and 14.30 per cent in Vaishali.
Voters cast their ballots amid tight security in all seats.
Meanwhile, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister and Tarapur BJP candidate Samrat Choudhary cast his vote in Munger's Tarapur while Deputy CM Vijay Sinha and BJP's Lakhisarai candidate also cast his vote.
Former Bihar Chief Minister and RJD Chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, along with his wife Rabri Devi, son and Mahagathbandhan Chief Ministerial face Tejashwi Yadav, cast their vote in Patna.
Voting for the first phase of the 2025 assembly elections in Bihar began today at 7.00 am across 121 constituencies in 18 districts of the state's 243 seats, with approximately 3.75 crore electors casting their ballot.
Polling will conclude at 6 pm, and due to security considerations, polling time has been curtailed to 5 pm in some constituencies.
The first phase will decide the fate of several senior leaders, including RJD's Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, BJP leaders Samrat Choudhary and Mangal Pandey and JD(U)'s Shravan Kumar and Vijay Kumar Choudhary. Tej Pratap Yadav is also in the fray in the first phase.
According to the Election Commission, there are 10.72 lakh 'new electors' and 7.78 lakh voters are in the age group of 18-19 years. The total population of these constituencies, as stated by the Election Commission, is 6.60 crore.
There are total of 122 women candidates in the fray in the first phase of polls.
Jan Suraj Party fielded 119 candidates in this phase. Within NDA, JD(U) is contesting 57 seats, followed by BJP on 48 and LJP (Ram Vilas) on 14.
Among the Mahagathbandhan constituents, RJD is contesting 73 seats in the first phase followed by 24 from Congress and 14 from CPI(ML). There will be friendly fight on a few seats among Mahagathbandhan constituents.
In the 2020 Bihar Assembly elections, polling took place in three phases. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) secured 125 seats, while the opposition Mahagathbandhan (MGB) won 110. Among the major parties, the Janata Dal (United) bagged 43 seats and the Congress 19. The JD(U) had contested 115 constituencies and the BJP 110, whereas the RJD contested 144 seats and the Congress 70.
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