Voting is going on for 121 seats for the first phase of assembly elections in Bihar on Thursday morning amid tight security arrangements. An officer gave this information.Voting started at 7 am and will continue till 6 pm. Voting will end one hour earlier in Naxal affected areas. In the last assembly elections, the average voting in the first phase was 57.6%. The Election Commission expects the voting percentage to increase this time.
Amidst the assembly elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a special appeal to the public. PMModi wrote on social media platform X, today is the first phase of the celebration of democracy in Bihar. I urge all the voters of this round of assembly elections to vote with full enthusiasm. On this occasion, my special congratulations to all my young friends of the state who are going to vote for the first time. Have to remember- first voting, then refreshments!
Defense Minister Rajnath Singh also urged voters to exercise their franchise in the ‘celebration of democracy’ and congratulated young voters who cast their votes for the first time.
On this occasion, Congress General Secretary and MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has appealed to the people of Bihar to participate enthusiastically in voting. He told the people of Bihar that today is the day to decide their future with their own hands.
Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra wrote on the social media platform
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav appealed to voters to participate in the voting process and said, “Voting is important for democracy, Constitution and humanity.”
Earlier, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi released a video message to the people of Bihar on Wednesday night. He said that this is not just the day of voting, but also the day to decide the future direction of Bihar. He said, “Many of you are going to vote for the first time. This is not just your right, but the biggest responsibility of democracy. You saw how a terrible game of vote theft was played in Haryana. In Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, everywhere these people tried to suppress the voice of the people. Now their eyes are on Bihar, on your vote, on your future. Reach your polling booth in large numbers, vote for your candidate of the Grand Alliance.”
In the first phase, the electoral fate of 16 ministers of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s government will also be decided. These include 11 ministers from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and five from Janata Dal (United).
BJP leader and Health Minister Mangal Pandey (Siwan), Nitin Naveen from Bankipur, Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhary from Tarapur, Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Kumar Sinha from Lakhisarai, Urban Development Minister Jivesh Mishra from Jale, Darbhanga, Revenue Minister Sanjay Saraogi from Darbhanga (City), Panchayati Raj Minister Kedar Prasad Gupta from Kudhani, Tourism Minister Raju Kumar from Sahebganj, Information and Technology Minister Krishna Kumar Mantu from Amanour, Environment Minister Sunil Kumar. From Bihar Sharif and Sports Minister Surendra Mehta is contesting from Bachhwara.
At the same time, the five ministers of JD(U) include Water Resources Minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary (Sarai Ranjan), Rural Development Minister Shravan Kumar from Nalanda, Social Welfare Minister Madan Sahni from Bahadurpur, Information and Public Relations Minister Maheshwar Hazari from Kalyanpur and Minister Ratnesh Sada from Sonbarsa.
Senior BJP leader and minister Mangal Pandey is contesting the assembly elections for the first time. He is contesting from Siwan seat, where he is pitted against senior RJD leader and former Assembly Speaker Avadh Bihari Chaudhary. Pandey is currently an assembly councilor.
Raghunathpur seat near Siwan is also in discussion, from where Bahubali and former MP late Mohd. Shahabuddin’s son Osama Shahab is contesting the elections.
The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is attacking the opposition by terming his candidature as a symbol of the ‘return of the jungle king’. BJP leader Himanta Vishwa Sharma even said that “Osama bin Laden comes to mind when we hear the name Osama.”
Other popular candidates include young folk singer Maithili Thakur (Alinagar) from BJP, Bhojpuri actor Khesari Lal Yadav (Chhapra) from RJD and singer Ritesh Pandey (Karghar) from Jan Suraj Party.
Among the most talked about seats is Mokama seat, where jailed JD(U) candidate Anant Singh is contesting against RJD’s Veena Devi, wife of strongman leader Suraj Bhan.
According to the Election Commission, voting will be held on 121 seats in this phase. Among these, Digha (Patna) has the highest number of voters at 4.58 lakh, while Barbigha (Shekhpura) has the least number of voters at 2.32 lakh.
Kurhani and Muzaffarpur have the maximum number of 20 candidates each, while Bhore, Alauli and Parbatta have only five candidates each. A total of 45,341 polling stations have been set up, of which 36,733 are in rural areas.
Of the total voters, 10.72 lakh are new voters, while the number of voters in the age group of 18-19 years is 7.38 lakh.
The Commission has implemented innovations like 100% webcasting at booths, new VIS slip facility and poll reporting through EVM Net App.
For the first phase, 121 general, 18 police and 33 expenditure observers have been appointed. Keeping in view the security arrangements, special surveillance arrangements have been made in rural areas.
