Bihar polls ’25: Voter turnout 53.77% as of 3 pm; highest in Begusarai

Patna: In Bihar, where 121 out of the total 243 assembly constituencies are voting on Thursday in the first phase of the assembly election, as of 3:00 pm, the voter turnout stands at 53.77%, Hindustan Times reported.

The highest voter turnout was recorded in Begusarai, with 59.82% while the lowest was recorded by Patna at 48.69% till 3 pm.

The contest in the state is viewed as a triangular heat between Bharatiya Janata Party and Janata Dal (United) led-National Democratic Alliance, Rashtriya Janata Dal and Indian National Congress-led Mahagathbandhan (or Grand Alliance) and Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj Party, according to HT.

The polling, which started at 7 am, is scheduled to conclude at 6 pm, though 5 pm at some places.

Around 3.75 crore voters are supposed to cast their vote on the day across 121 assembly constituencies in 18 districts of Bihar on the 1st phase. Out of the total voters, 1.98 crore men, 1.76 crore women, and 758 third-gender individuals. In this phase, 1,314 candidates are contesting, of whom 1,192 are men and 122 are women.

Among the 18 districts which are having polls on Thursday are Patna, Darbhanga, Madhepura, Saharsa, Muzaffarpur, Gopalganj, Siwan, Saran, Vaishali, Samastipur, Begusarai, Lakhisarai, Munger, Sheikhpura, Nalanda, Buxar, and Bhojpur.

Voting is happening in 45,341 polling stations, with 36,733 in rural areas and 8,608 in urban centres. All stations are equipped for webcasting. Among them, 320 have been designated as model booths, 926 are managed by women, and 107 are PwD-friendly.

Out of the 3.75 voters, 10.72 lakh are ‘new electors’.