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New Delhi, Nov 6 (IANS) An estimated 64.66 per cent voter turnout was recorded till 8.15 pm on Thursday in the first phase of Bihar assembly elections, while an official said final data on the voting percentage was being collected.
Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar congratulated the voters of Bihar for historic turnout in the first phase of assembly elections since 1951. He thanked the voters for expressing their full faith in the Election Commission of India and voting in such large numbers with enthusiasm and enthusiasm. He also thanked the entire election machinery for working with complete transparency and dedication.
Initial voting data recorded on Thursday indicates that the first phase of voting in Bihar has bettered the record of the last three assembly elections. In 2020, turnout in the first phase was 56.1 percent; In 2015 it was 55.9 percent and in 2010 it was 52.1 percent.
An election official said the voting percentage in 121 seats in 188 districts till 7 pm was 63.25 per cent, which is better than the 60.13 per cent recorded till 5 pm.
Till 7 pm, the highest turnout of 70.96 percent took place in Muzaffarpur district. 70.63 percent was recorded in Samastipur district and 68.26 percent in Begusarai.
Earlier, Begusarai district was on top with 68.26 per cent voting till 5 pm, followed by Samastipur district with 66.65 per cent and Madhepura district with 65.74 per cent.
According to ECI data, till 5 pm, Bachhwara seat (AC 142) in Begusarai district recorded the highest voting percentage of 69.67 percent.
Till 3 pm, more than 53.77 percent eligible voters had cast their votes. The slowest voting was recorded in Patna district, where 48.69 percent voting took place till 3 pm.
Of the seven assembly constituencies in Begusarai district, Cherai-Bariarpur (AC 141) recorded the highest turnout of 62.55 per cent till 3 pm. After this, 60.98 percent voting percentage was recorded till 3 pm in Bachhwara (AC 142) and 60.27 percent voting in Teghra (AC 143).
The turnout in Bhojpur district at 3 pm was 50.07 per cent, Buxar 51.69 per cent, Darbhanga 51.75 per cent, Gopalganj 58.17 per cent, Khagaria 54.77 per cent, Lakhisarai 57.39 per cent, Madhepura 55.96 per cent, Munger 52.17 per cent, Muzaffarpur 58.40 per cent, Nalanda 52.32 per cent, Patna 48.69 per cent, Saharsa 55.22 per cent, Samastipur 56.35 per cent, Saran 54.60 per cent, Sheikhpur 49.37 per cent, Siwan 50.93 per cent and Vaishali 53.63 per cent.
The ECI said the average voting till 1 pm in 121 assembly constituencies in 18 districts was 42.31 per cent.
According to the Chief Electoral Officer, an average of 27.65 percent voting was recorded in 18 districts till 11 am on Thursday.
A total of 1,314 candidates are in the fray in this phase – including 1,192 men and 122 women. The Election Commission said 3.75 crore voters, including 1.98 crore men, 1.76 crore women and 758 third-gender voters, are eligible to vote at 45,341 polling stations, of which 36,733 are in rural and 8,608 in urban areas.
ECI has 320 model booths, 926 women-managed stations and 107 managed by persons with disabilities. Webcasting facilities have been installed at all polling stations for real-time monitoring.
More than 15 battalions of police and paramilitary forces have been deployed in 18 districts, with special attention given to sensitive and Naxal-affected areas, where polling will end an hour earlier at 5 pm. Mock polling exercises were conducted early in the morning to verify the systems before polling begins.
–IANS
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