Bihar Records Highest Voter Turnout Since Independence As The Final Polls End Peacefully

Patna: Bihar recorded over 68 per cent polling on 122 seats in the second and final phase of Assembly elections on Tuesday, and created history with the highest ever voter turnout of 66.90 per cent in the polls in the state since Independence.

Polling was conducted at 45,399 booths in the second phase, and 3.7 crore voters got an opportunity to exercise their franchise to choose from 1302 candidates in the fray. The first phase of the election, in which 121 seats were voted for, had witnessed 65.08 per cent polling.

“The second phase of polling has successfully and peacefully concluded with a voter turnout of 68.76 per cent. It has led to an overall voter turnout of 66.90 per cent for the entire election. It is 9.6 per cent more than the voter turnout of 57.29 per cent in the previous Assembly poll in 2020,” Bihar chief electoral officer (CEO) Vinod Singh Gunjiyal said.

Gujiyal added that polling data from around 2000 booths was still awaited, and the voter turnout could be upwardly revised once they arrive.

With the conclusion of polls, the fate of altogether 2616 candidates was now sealed in the electronic voting machines (EVMs). There were a total of 7.45 crore electors in this Assembly poll. The counting of votes will be done on November 14.

The previous highest polling percentage was 62.57 per cent in the 2000 Assembly elections, while it was 64.6 per cent in the 1998 Lok Sabha polls. Incidentally, the voter turnout was 56.28 per cent in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Gunjiyal added that 230 complaints were received during the second phase, which were timely resolved. Around 3.52 crore in cash, intoxicants, precious metals and freebies were seized on the polling day.

“Various agencies seized cash, intoxicants, narcotics, precious metals and freebies worth Rs 127 crore since the model code of conduct (MCC) for polls came into effect on October 6,” Gunjiyal added.

The Bihar CEO said that the Election Commission (EC) implemented several new initiatives in this election, including 100 per cent webcast from every polling booth, each of them covered by two CCTV cameras. Besides, all vehicles and boats transporting EVMs had GPS (Global Positioning System) trackers installed along with UPS (uninterrupted power supply) to monitor their movement.

“A major achievement was that voting was conducted on 1592 booths that were previously shifted to other places due to Naxal violence and threat. At some of them, polling personnel were dropped from helicopters to conduct elections. But this time, none of the booths were shifted and voting happened peacefully,” the CEO added.

Bihar Police additional director general (ADG) (Headquarters) Kundan Krishnan said that the second phase of the election was completed peacefully with the help of 1650 companies of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF), 50 companies of the Bihar Special Armed Police (BSAP), and over 42,000 district police personnel deployed across 20 districts.

“There was no violence at the polling booths. Reports about disputes at a couple of places did come, but nobody was seriously injured in them. We have arrested 990 people and seized 10 vehicles since Monday evening,” Krishnan said.

The ADG(Headquarters), who was the nodal police officer for the polls, pointed out that altogether 844 illegal firearms and 3546 rounds of ammunition were seized, while 16 minigun factories were busted since the MCC came into effect.

Talking about many booths in Naxal violence-affected areas witnessing polling at their original locations for the first time in decades, instead of being shifted elsewhere, Krishnan pointed out that it indicated that the common people no longer lived under the fear of the Naxals.

“In several instances, wives of surrendered Naxals voted happily at the polling booths in their respective villages,” the ADG headquarters said.