New Delhi, Nov 6 (PTI) Bihar recorded its “highest-ever” voter turnout in the first phase of polling for the Assembly election on Thursday, with 64.66 per cent of an electorate of more than 3.75 crore turning up at polling stations to exercise their franchise.
In a statement issued here, the Election Commission (EC) said the first phase of the Bihar polls concluded peacefully, with the “highest-ever voter turnout of 64.66 per cent” recorded in the history of the state.
A total of 121 constituencies in 18 districts went to polls in the first phase, with an electorate of more than 3.75 crore.
During the first Bihar Assembly polls in 1951-52, the recorded turnout was lowest in the state’s history at 42.6 per cent.
The previous highest voter turnout in Bihar was recorded in 2000 at 62.57 per cent.
In the 2020 Assembly polls held under the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic, the polling percentage was 57.29.
In the first Lok Sabha polls in 1951-52, Bihar recorded a voter turnout of 40.35 per cent — the lowest.
In the 1998 parliamentary polls, the state recorded its highest ever turnout of 64.6 per cent.
Officials said Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar has congratulated the voters of Bihar for the historic voter turnout in the first phase of Assembly polls since 1951.
The CEC has also thanked the voters for expressing their complete faith in the EC and turning out to vote in such large numbers with fervour and enthusiasm.
Kumar has also thanked the entire election machinery for working with full transparency and dedication.
More than four lakh polling-related staff had reached their respective polling stations by Wednesday night. Mock polls were completed by 7 am on Thursday in the presence of more than 67,902 polling agents appointed by 1,314 contesting candidates and polling began peacefully at all 45,341 polling stations simultaneously.
More than 90,000 “Jeevika Didis” (women volunteers), along with one central police personnel for each polling station, were deployed for the identification of “purdahnasheen” (burqa or ghunghat-clad) women. PTI NAB RC
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