Voters stand in a queue at a polling station to cast their votes during the first phase Bihar assembly polls, amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Bihar Assembly Election 2020: The state went to first of the three-phased polls to elect the next government on Wednesday. The voter turnout in the first phase of Bihar assembly election was 54 per cent, with Election Commission saying it may rise further. In the 2015 assembly polls, the turnout in the first phase was 54.94 per cent, the Election Commission said. The second and third phase will be held on November 3 (94 constituencies) and November 7 (78 constituencies). The counting of votes will take place on November 10. Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora said the Election Commission was "discouraged" from holding the Bihar assembly polls amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but the poll panel was of the view that carrying out the electoral exercise was a "leap of faith and not a leap in the dark".
Bihar Election 2020: Full Coverage
Bihar Assembly Election 2020 Phase 1 polling ends: 10 points
- A total of 71 assembly constituencies of Bihar went for polls in the first phase of three-phase elections amid tight security and with coronavirus guidelines in place. The polling began at 7 am and ended at 6 pm.
- Of the nearly 2.15 crore electors eligible to exercise the franchise, 1.12 crore are male, 1.01 crore female and 599 are categorised as third gender, according to data provided by the Election Commission.
- The coronavirus pandemic did not have much impact on the voter turnout in the first phase of Bihar assembly polls as an estimated 53.54 voters exercised their franchise compared to 54.75 per cent in these districts in 2015, according to provisional figures. The voting percentage may still go up.
- The 2020 poll percentage is likely to go up as the Election Commission is updating the data with more inputs from 71 constituencies spread across 16 districts.
- This is the first major election being conducted amid the raging coronavirus pandemic in the country.
- While the voting percentage in these districts was 54.75 in 2015, it was 53.54 (provisional figures) this year, the EC said.
- According to the provisional data, the highest poll percentage is recorded in Banka district at 59.57. It had recorded 56.43 per cent out in 2015 polls.
- Munger district has registered the least voter turnout at 47.36 per cent. It had recorded 52.24 per cent turnout in 2015.
- Out of the 71 constituencies, 35 are in Naxal-hit areas where the polling hour was curtailed.
- The poll panel said that since the announcement of the elections, 534 arms, 193 cartridges and three bombs were seized from the areas that went to polls in the first phase.
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