The first phase of polling in Bihar on Thursday concluded largely peacefully, with stray incidents of violence being reported. The poll recorded a voter turnout of nearly 65 per cent, the highest in the State’s history. Elections were held across 121 constituencies in 18 districts, marking the beginning of a closely watched, high-stakes contest, seen as a litmus test of the ruling NDA’s popularity.
In the 2020 Assembly election, voter participation in these 121 constituencies was 55.81 per cent, marking a significant improvement from the previous election.
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar congratulated the voters of Bihar for the historic turnout in the first phase of the Assembly polls since 1951. During the first Assembly polls in the State in 1951-52, the recorded turnout was the lowest in the State’s history at 42.6 per cent.
The highest voter turnout was recorded in Begusarai with 67.74 per cent, Samastipur 66.65 per cent, Madhepura 65.74 per cent, Khagaria 60.65 per cent, Gopalganj at 64.96 per cent, Darbhanga at 58.38 per cent, Nalanda at 57.58 per cent, Patna at 55.02 per cent, Bhojpur at 53.24 per cent and Buxar at 55.10 per cent.
The polls for the 243-member Assembly are being closely watched not only for their local implications but also as an early indicator of the political mood ahead of 2029 General Election. The polls follow the highly controversial Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll by the ECI, which came under attack from Opposition parties for alleged manipulation of voter lists.
The increase in voter turnout, after the SIR of electoral lists deleted 47 lakh names, is significant. Further, historical data suggests that high turnouts indicate anti-incumbency.
Stakes are high for both the NDA and the INDIA bloc in this phase, with several key leaders in the fray, including RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav, Deputy Chief Ministers Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha and several other ministers.
Reacting to the voting percentage, both the NDA and the INDIA bloc camps have claimed victory.
The NDA hopes that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s record, along with recent welfare measures such as 125 units of free power, Rs 10,000 cash transfers to over 1 crore women, and an increase in social security pensions, will help counter anti-incumbency. Whereas the Opposition is pinning its hopes on anti-incumbency and the promise of “jobs-for-every-home” by its CM candidate, Tejashwi Yadav.
This phase is also crucial for the smaller parties in both coalitions. The CPI (ML), with the INDIA bloc, is contesting 10 seats in this phase, out of which it holds six seats. In the NDA, 10 of the 29 seats that the Lok Janshakti Party (Ramvilas) contested are in the first phase. NDA holds only one of these 10 seats. The LJP(RV)’s seat share had sparked discontent among NDA allies, particularly the JD(U), who argued that the party’s allocation was disproportionate given its lack of representation in the Assembly.
Earlier in the day, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Kumar Sinha caused a stir by alleging that his convoy had been attacked by workers of the main opposition party, RJD, who were attempting to “intimidate” voters in the area. Reacting to the alleged incident, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar directed the State DGP to take “immediate action”.
“No one will be allowed to take the law into their own hands. Strict action will be taken against the miscreants,” an official quoted Kumar as saying. Voting in the first phase of the Bihar assembly elections was briefly disrupted on Thursday after a confrontation between supporters of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) in Bhojpur left a polling agent injured.
Choudhary, who voted in Tarapur, said, “The work done by Nitish Kumar should continue. A lot of effort has gone into the transformation we are witnessing today. Vote for development.” Giriraj Singh, who cast his vote in Lakhisarai, defended the checking of the identity of burqa-clad women, stating it will prevent ‘vote chori’ (vote theft). “This is not religious bias... We are not living in Pakistan. Neither will Bihar have a Tejashwi Yadav government, nor will Sharia law be implemented here,” he said.
Tejashwi, along with his family members, including RJD supremo Lalu Prasad, cast his vote at a booth in Veterinary College in Patna. “I appeal to the youth to bring a change by installing a new government,” Tejashwi said. His mother and former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi, too, appealed to people “to vote and bring a change.”
A notable feature of this election has been the presence of Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj Party, which the former political strategist believes could emerge as the proverbial dark horse.
Kishor has caught public imagination with his promise of making the state “among the top-ranking ones in the country”, and to this end, he has not shied away from making a few bold statements, including his announcement that he intends to scrap the prohibition law, which has been bleeding the state dry.
