Nitish Kumar congratulates voters for record turnout of 65% in first phase of Bihar polls

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday (November 7, 2025) congratulated electors for the record 64.66% voter turnout in the first phase of the Assembly election a day ago and urged people to exercise their franchise with the same enthusiasm in the second round of polling on November 11.

In a statement, the Election Commission of India on Thursday (November 6) said the first phase of the Assembly polls concluded peacefully “in a festive mood with the highest ever voter turnout of 64.66% in the history of Bihar”.

Also Read | Bihar Assembly election Updates on November 7, 2025

The polling was held in 121 Assembly seats. The State has a total of 243 constituencies.

‘Unprecedented progress’

In a post on X, the Chief Minister said: “Heartfelt thanks to the people of Bihar for the record voting in the first phase. Bihar has made unprecedented progress in the past year. Now, it is time to include Bihar in the category of the most developed States. In democracy, voting is not only our right but also our duty.”

He appealed to the people of Bihar to “vote with the same enthusiasm in the second phase on November 11, so that Bihar progresses further”. “Let there be respect for all, development for all.”

Polling was held across 18 districts, with Muzaffarpur and Samastipur recording the highest turnouts, as per the ECI data.

Muzaffarpur recorded a turnout of 70.96%, while the polling percentage in Samastipur stood at 70.63, Madhepura at 67.21%, Vaishali at 67.37%, Saharsa at 66.84%, Khagaria at 66.36%, Lakhisarai at 65.05%, and Munger at 60.40%.

Siwan registered a voter turnout of 60.31%, Nalanda of 58.91%, and Patna of 57.93%.

According to ECI, the Assembly elections of 1951-52 saw the lowest voter turnout in the State at 42.6%, while the figure in the first phase of the polls was higher than the polling percentage (62.67) recorded in 2000, and roughly equal to what was registered in the State in the 1998 Lok Sabha polls.