PATNA: The first phase of the Bihar Assembly elections witnessed a record voter turnout of 65.08 per cent, the highest in the state’s electoral history, the Election Commission announced.
According to the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Bihar, 3.75 crore voters were eligible to cast their votes across 45,341 polling stations, including 36,733 in rural areas, on November 6. The polling decided the fate of 1,314 candidates, comprising 1,192 men and 122 women.
The “historic” turnout marks an increase of 7.79 percentage points compared to the 57.29 per cent voter turnout recorded in the 2020 Assembly elections, the CEO’s office said.
Out of the total electorate, 1.98 crore were men and 1.76 crore women, with women turning out in large numbers to vote.
Among the districts, Muzaffarpur and Samastipur topped the charts with over 70 per cent polling, registering 71.81 per cent and 71.74 per cent turnout, respectively. Other high-performing districts included Madhepura (69.59%), Saharsa (69.38%), Vaishali (68.50%), and Khagaria (67.90%).
In contrast, Patna recorded a turnout of 59.02 per cent, while Lakhisarai saw 64.98 per cent, Munger 62.74 per cent, and Siwan 60.61 per cent.
Polling for the remaining 122 constituencies of the 243-member Assembly will be held on November 11, with vote counting scheduled for November 14.
