The first phase of voting in the Bihar Assembly elections began on Thursday, recording a voter turnout of 13.13 percent by 9 am across 121 constituencies in 18 districts, according to data from the Election Commission of India (ECI).
Saharsa recorded the highest turnout at 15.27 percent, while Lakhisarai registered the lowest at 7 percent.
Voter turnout in other districts stood at 14.60 percent in Begusarai, 13.11 percent in Bhojpur, 13.28 percent in Buxar, 12.48 percent in Darbhanga, 13.97 percent in Gopalganj, 14.15 percent in Khagaria, 13.74 percent in Madhepura, 13.37 percent in Munger, 14.38 percent in Muzaffarpur, 12.45 percent in Nalanda, 11.22 percent in Patna, 12.86 percent in Samastipur, 13.30 percent in Saran, 12.97 percent in Sheikhpura, 13.35 percent in Siwan, and 14.30 percent in Vaishali.
Polling began at 7 am and will continue till 6 pm. In six Naxal-affected constituencies, voting will end an hour earlier at 5 pm.
A total of 1,314 candidates, including 1,192 men and 122 women, are contesting in this phase. The electorate comprises 3.75 crore voters, including 1.98 crore men, 1.76 crore women, and 758 third-gender voters.
Voting is taking place across 45,341 polling stations, including 36,733 in rural areas and 8,608 in urban centres. The ECI has set up 320 model polling stations, 926 women-managed booths, and 107 booths run by persons with disabilities (PwDs). Webcasting has been arranged at all polling locations.
A mock poll was conducted between 5 am and 7 am in the presence of booth-level agents before voting commenced.
Security has been tightened across the state to ensure peaceful polling. More than 15 battalions of police and paramilitary forces have been deployed, with special patrols at sensitive and hyper-sensitive polling stations.
-ANI