Record 64.66% voting in first phase of Bihar polls

Bihar recorded its “highest-ever” voter turnout as the first phase of the Assembly election ended on Thursday with 64.66% votes polled. In this phase, 121 Assembly constituencies in 18 districts went to the polls with a total electorate of over 3.75 crore. The Election Commission of India (EC) said voting was peaceful.

Bihar Assembly election | Over 64% voting in phase 1; follow updates on November 6, 2025

The figures better the 62.57% turnout of the 2000 Assembly election. In the 2020 election, the voting percentage in the first phase was 57.29%. The highest turnout in a Lok Sabha election was 64.6%, in 1998.

Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar congratulated the voters for the historic turnout since 1951. He thanked the electors for expressing their faith in the poll body and turning out to vote with enthusiasm. He lauded the election machinery for working with full transparency and dedication.

“Bihar has shown the way to the nation. SIR with zero appeals and highest voter turnout since 1951. Purest electoral rolls and enthusiastic participation of electors. Transparent and dedicated election machinery. Democracy wins. It has been an amazing journey for ECI,” Mr. Kumar said.

Earlier, Bihar’s Chief Electoral Officer Vinod Singh Gunjiyal said voting took place in 45,314 booths.

Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary said that reports from representatives and candidates indicate that the National Democratic Alliance will win around 100 of the 121 seats. He said this year’s results will break the record of 2010 election outcome.

Mr. Choudhary said Tejashwi Yadav, the Mahagatbandhan’s chief ministerial candidate, will lose from Raghopur. “Just as no member of Lalu Prasad’s family won the 2010 elections, similarly, no one from his family will win the elections this time too,” he said.

Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai said that the public’s enthusiasm for the NDA was “overwhelming”. “The large voter turnout proves that the people of Bihar are committed to fulfilling the resolve for a developed Bihar, and that through their right to vote, they have worked to build a strong and powerful Bihar,” he said. He too said that Mr. Yadav will lose in Raghopur.

Mr. Yadav said Bihar has voted for change in the first phase. “To dispel 20 years of darkness, every Bihari came out of their homes and lit the light of change,” he said.

“For the first time in 20 years, such an unprecedented wave of change is visible in favour of the grand alliance. Not only from every home, but from every heart, only one voice is heard: this time, we will bring a new young government,” he said.

Mr. Yadav said that “20 years of unemployment, poverty, crime, injustice, inequality, oppression, corruption, and countless sufferings are about to end”.

Congress leader Pawan Khera said that the “youth, women, elderly of Bihar, every section is voting in anger against this government. The vote of anger is always the vote for change. Change is coming in Bihar.“

Till 5 p.m., out of 18 districts, Begusarai recorded the highest turnout at 67.32%, Patna 55.02% and Sheikhpura at 52.36%, the lowest.