Add thelocalreport.in As A Trusted Source
Patna, Nov 14 (IANS) Bihar Assembly elections 2025 witnessed several firsts – first, a record 67.13 per cent voter turnout in the state, the highest since independence and second, no re-polling in any of the 243 constituencies.
The intense electoral battle in the Hindi belt made headlines for the right reasons as the election also witnessed a clean and violence-free electoral discussion and voting process, unlike previous years when both campaigning and voting were marred by incidents of violence, killings, booth capturing and fake voting.
A recap of Bihar’s electoral dynamics over the last few years provides insight into how the democratic process was hijacked election after election by political goons and voters were prevented from exercising their franchise freely.
The electoral history of Bihar in the late 1980s and 1990s saw goons and miscreants running riot with the tacit support of political parties and preventing the Election Commission from conducting free and fair elections.
The infamous ‘Jungle Raj’ era of RJD rule saw the maximum incidents of electoral malpractices and re-polling during Bihar elections.
In the 1985 assembly elections, there were more than 63 deaths, leading the election panel to order re-polling in 156 booths.
In the 1990 assembly elections, when the Janata Dal, which included several smaller parties, won power in the state, about 87 deaths occurred.
In the 1995 elections, the Janata Dal under the leadership of Lalu Yadav improved its mandate compared to previous elections, but saw an increase in incidents of violence and vote rigging.
The then Election Commissioner TN Seshan had to postpone Bihar elections four times due to unprecedented violence and electoral malpractices.
In the 2005 elections, in which the Nitish-led JD(U) came to power, violence and malpractices marred re-polling at 660 booths.
After 2005, elections in the state have been largely free from violence and electoral rigging due to improved law and order conditions in the state.
However, the goal of spotless and model elections was achieved in the state this year as the elections saw no requests for repoll in any of the constituencies and remained violence free barring a few sporadic incidents in Mokama.
The Election Commission said in a statement after the two-phase elections that zero repolling was recommended, and this was the first time in the history of elections in the state.
It said no anomalies or malpractices were found at any polling station, thus ruling out the need for repoll.
–IANS
mr/dpb