Bihar Assembly polls: Historic Phase 2 voting lifts overall turnout to 67%

CEC Gyanesh Kumar said voters made history with the highest turnout since 1951 at 66.9 per cent. He added that women contributed to the highest voter turnout ever at 71 per cent

Voter turnout in the second phase of the Bihar Assembly elections reached a record high of nearly 69 per cent on Tuesday, the Election Commission of India said.

 

Bihar Chief Electoral Officer Vinod Singh Gunjiyal said the state recorded a provisional turnout of 68.79 per cent in the second and final phase of the assembly polls. The voter turnout in the first phase stood at 65.08 per cent.

 

He added that the overall provisional turnout for the 243-seat Assembly election was 66.9 per cent, marking a rise of 9.6 percentage points compared to the last Assembly elections.

 

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar also said, "Today, voters have also made history in independent India by casting the highest percentage of votes in any election held since 1951, at approximately 66.9 per cent".

 

He added that women contributed to the highest voter turnout ever at 71 per cent.

 

Till 5 pm, the highest voter turnout was recorded in Kishanganj district at 76.26 per cent, followed by 75.23 per cent in Katihar, 73.79 per cent in Purnia, 70.69 per cent in Supaul, 69.02 per cent in Purvi Champaran 68.91 per cent in Banka.

 

What's at stake in Phase 2?

In the second phase of polling, a total of 1,302 candidates contested across 122 Assembly seats, with voting held at 45,399 polling stations, including 40,073 in rural areas. The districts that went to the polls include West Champaran, East Champaran, Sitamarhi, Madhubani, Supaul, Araria and Kishanganj, all of which share borders with Nepal.

 

In the 2020 Assembly polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which had won a total of 74 seats, won 42 of these 122 seats, followed by Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), which won 33 seats (out of its total of 75), Janata Dal (United) won 20 (of its total of 43) seats, and Congress 11 of its total of 19 seats.

 

Who is poised to emerge victorious?

 

Exit polls indicate that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is set to retain power in the 2025 Bihar Assembly elections, potentially winning 130–167 of the 243 seats. The Mahagathbandhan is projected to secure around 70–100 seats. However, Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj Party has underperformed and is expected to win only 0–5 seats, according to most pollsters.