Polling across 121 constituencies has picked up pace in Bihar in the first phase of assembly elections that kicked-off on November 6.
Over 3.75 crore voters are set to exercise their franchise and determine the fate of candidates in 243 constituencies in the state. The voting, which began at 7 am, will continue till 5 pm across 45,341 polling stations.
As of 11 am on Thursday, the polling percentage stood at 25.11 per cent, with Begusarai district recording the maximum turnout of voters, as per Bihar’s Chief Electoral Officer.
Meanwhile, the capital city of Patna saw the lowest voter turnout so far, with only 23.71 per cent voters.
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Several top leaders are in fray in the crucial phase 1, including INDIA bloc’s chief ministerial face, Tejashwi Yadav, deputy chief minister, Samrat Chaudhary, and over a dozen BJP and JD(U) ministers in the Nitish Kumar government. Others contesting in the first phase include folk singer Maithili Thakur, a BJP candidate from Aliganj, Bhojpuri stars Khesari Lal Yadav, an RJD candidate from Chhapra, and Ritesh Pandey, a Jan Suraaj candidate from Kargahar.
Besides the smaller parties in both coalitions, the first phase will also see close contest for 10 of the 20 seats being contested by CPI(ML). From the NDA camp, 10 of the 29 seats being contested by the Lok Janshakti Party (Ramvilas) are also in this phase.