Patna: A voter turnout of 64.46 per cent was recorded provisionally at the close of polling in 121 seats in the first phase of assembly elections in Bihar on Thursday, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Vinod Singh Gunjiyal said.
Begusarai district recorded the highest polling percentage so far at 67.32, followed by Samastipur (66.65) and Madhepura (65.74).
Stakes are high for both the ruling NDA and the opposition INDIA bloc in the first phase of the assembly elections, with several key leaders, including RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav, Deputy Chief Ministers Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha, and several ministers, in the fray.
The ruling NDA, which has been in power in the state for 20 years, except for a few brief interruptions, is banking on its image of “sushasan” (good governance) in contrast to the alleged “jungle raj” that marked the 15-year-old rule of the RJD-Congress combine.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who addressed rallies in a couple of constituencies going to polls in the second and final phase, felt that the noticeably high number of women turning up to vote was a good sign for the NDA.
“Mothers, daughters and sisters have been the worst sufferers of ‘jungle raj’. Today, they seem to have put up a fortress around polling booths to prevent the return of ‘jungle raj'”, Modi had remarked.
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 one crore women, and an increase in social security pensions, will help counter anti-incumbency.
However, the opposition dismissed the boasts of the BJP-led coalition and hoped that people would vote for a change.
RJD president Lalu Prasad, who hopes that his younger son and heir apparent Tejashwi Yadav will form the next government, came out with an evocative social media post, drawing the analogy of a “roti”.
“If a roti is not flipped on a tawa (pan), it gets burnt. Twenty years is a long time. A Tejashwi government is essential to build a new Bihar”, Prasad wrote on X.
There have also been allegations and counter-allegations from both sides on polling day.
Deputy CM Sinha, who is seeking a fourth consecutive term from Lakhisarai, claimed that one of the cars in his convoy was attacked by RJD supporters trying to “intimidate” voters belonging to extremely backward classes.
On the other hand, the RJD alleged on its X handle that voting had been “deliberately slowed down” in areas where the INDIA bloc was strongly placed, a charge promptly rejected by the Election Commission.
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 public announcement that he intends to scrap the prohibition law, which has been bleeding the state dry.
Polling was being held across 18 districts, with Muzaffarpur and Gopalganj reporting turnouts above 58 per cent till 3 pm, while in the state capital Patna, it was 48.69 per cent.
