Patna: Voting began on Thursday morning for 121 seats in Bihar in the first phase of the assembly elections amid tight security arrangements, officials said. Polling started at 7 a.m. and will continue until 5 p.m.
In this phase, over 3.75 crore voters will decide the fate of 1,314 candidates, including prominent leaders such as INDIA bloc’s CM face Tejashwi Yadav and Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary of the BJP.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged citizens to participate enthusiastically in what he called the “first phase of the celebration of democracy in Bihar.” In a post on X, he wrote, “I urge all voters to cast their votes with full enthusiasm. My special congratulations to all young friends voting for the first time — remember, first vote, then refreshments!”
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh also appealed to voters to exercise their franchise and congratulated first-time voters. Meanwhile, Tejashwi Yadav urged people to “vote for democracy, the Constitution, and humanity.”
In Raghopur, Yadav is seeking a hat-trick, while his BJP rival Satish Kumar, who had defeated Yadav’s mother Rabri Devi in 2010, stands as his principal challenger. Samrat Choudhary, contesting from Tarapur after nearly a decade, faces a tough contest against RJD’s Arun Kumar Sah, who narrowly lost the seat in 2020.
Deputy CM Vijay Kumar Sinha is contesting from Lakhisarai, seeking a fourth consecutive victory against Amresh Kumar of Congress and Suraj Kumar of Jan Suraaj Party.
In Siwan, BJP leader and minister Mangal Pandey is contesting his first assembly election, facing RJD’s Awadh Bihari Chaudhary, a former Speaker and veteran legislator. The neighbouring Raghunathpur seat is drawing attention for the candidature of Osama Shahab, son of the late gangster-politician Mohd Shahabuddin. His entry has prompted the NDA to accuse the RJD of reviving “jungle raj,” with BJP leaders likening his name to that of terrorist Osama bin Laden.
Another high-profile contest is in Mokama, where jailed JD(U) candidate Anant Singh is pitted against RJD’s Veena Devi, wife of former MP Suraj Bhan Singh.
In Mahua, Tejashwi’s estranged brother Tej Pratap Yadav, who now leads the Janshakti Janata Dal, is in a multi-cornered contest against sitting RJD MLA Mukesh Raushan, LJP (Ram Vilas) candidate Sanjay Singh, and Independent Ashma Parveen.
Other notable candidates include folk singer Maithili Thakur (BJP-Aliganj), Bhojpuri stars Khesari Lal Yadav (RJD-Chhapra) and Ritesh Pandey (Jan Suraaj-Kargahar).
About a dozen ministers are contesting in this phase — mostly from the BJP, including Nitin Nabin (Bankipur), Sanjay Saraogi (Darbhanga), Jibesh Kumar (Jale) and Kedar Prasad Gupta (Kurhani) — all defending their seats. JD(U) ministers Shrawan Kumar (Nalanda) and Vijay Kumar Chaudhary (Sarairanjan) are also in the fray.
Voting is being held across 45,341 polling stations, with 36,733 located in rural areas, officials said.
