Record 69 per cent turnout caps Bihar's high-stakes polls

Patna, Nov 11 (PTI) Bihar on Tuesday witnessed a record-breaking turnout of nearly 69 per cent in the second and final phase of assembly polls, wrapping up a nearly month-long exercise that saw the ruling NDA defend its "sushasan" pitch against the opposition's onslaught, promising "change".

The results, which will be declared on November 14, will decide whether Nitish Kumar, the JD(U) president and the longest serving Chief Minister, secures yet another tenure or his former deputy Tejashwi Yadav, who has likened the 20-year-old regime to a "rickety old car" (khataara), takes the wheel.

Briefing reporters, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Vinod Singh Gunjiyal said the state recorded 68.79 per cent voter turnout, provisionally, in the second and final phase of the assembly polls.

In both phases, the state registered a voter turnout of 66.90 per cent, provisionally, which is 9.6 percentage points more than the last assembly polls, the CEO added.

However, an ECI statement issued from New Delhi put the voter turnout at 68.76 per cent. The female turnout (74.03 per cent) was significantly higher, compared with males (64.1 per cent).

The statement also disclosed that women had outnumbered men in the first phase as well, with female turnout 71.6 per cent as against only 62.8 per cent male electors who cast their votes.

While Yadav and his allies in the INDIA bloc claim that the high turnout was indicative of a very strong "anti-incumbency" sentiment, NDA leaders have been quick to counter that heavy polling does not necessarily spell change, citing past instances of incumbents retaining power.

Tarkishore Prasad, senior BJP leader and a former deputy CM, who is contesting from Katihar, told PTI video “the high voter turnout is a result of the enthusiasm in the public, especially women, who are determined to reward the Nitish Kumar government which has made available 125 units of free power, provided females with Rs 10,000 under Mukhya Mantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana and also announced a substantial hike in various social security pension schemes”.

Altogether 10 districts, including Muzaffarpur and Samastipur, which went to polls in the first phase, have registered voting turnout higher than 70 per cent.

With the exception of Banka, which recorded 70.30 per cent turnout, all these districts are situated north of the Ganges, an area which is densely populated and where the NDA has, traditionally, performed well.

However, the top three districts, in terms of turnout, Katihar (78.84), Kishanganj (78.15) and Purnea (76.14), all falling in the Seemanchal region, have a high concentration of Muslims and are seen as bastions of the INDIA bloc, even as the ruling NDA has been alleging that the opposition coalition has offered “protection to infiltrators” in these areas as well as elsewhere in Bihar.

In at least three assembly segments – Kasba (Purnea), Pranpur (Katihar) and Thakurganj (Kishanganj), the turnout crossed the 80 per cent mark.

Amid the tug of war between the NDA and the opposition INDIA bloc, Prashant Kishor, the former political strategist, hopes that his one-year-old Jan Suraaj Party will make an impact, with its pledge for an "alternative" that promises education and jobs and an end to "distress migration".

Although Kumar, who is a member of the state legislative council, is not himself contesting the polls, the BJP-led NDA is banking on 'good governance' during the tenure of the JD(U) president to tackle the anti-incumbency factor.

The second phase, in which eight ministers of his cabinet are in the fray, involves high stakes for the ruling NDA, as also the opposition INDIA bloc, which pins its hopes on the incumbency factor, as well as the high concentration of Muslims in many of the poll-bound districts.

The second round is of particular significance for the Congress, a spent force which is, nonetheless, the second-largest constituent of the INDIA bloc in Bihar. Of the 19 seats it had won in the 2020 assembly elections, 12 went to polls in the current phase.

Its sitting MLAs include state president Rajesh Kumar Ram (Kutumba) and Shakeel Ahmed Khan (Kadwa).

In the first phase, on November 6, a "record" 65.09 per cent of 3.75 crore electors, across 121 constituencies, had cast their vote, which both rival groups claim to be to their advantage.

However, Kishor, the proverbial 'X factor' in the elections, believes that the spike in voting percentage is because people of the state, who had been in search of an "alternative", have found one in his barely a year-old outfit.

Ahead of the second phase of voting, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the chief minister had urged electors to exercise their franchise in the final phase of polling and set a new voting record.

"Today marks the second and final phase of voting in the Bihar assembly elections. I urge all voters to participate enthusiastically and set a new voting record. I especially urge my young friends from the state, who are voting for the first time, to not only cast their votes themselves but also inspire others to do so," the PM said on X.

Kumar said voting is "not only our right, but also a responsibility".

"I appeal to voters to exercise their right to vote in the second phase of the Bihar assembly elections," he said in a social media post.

The districts where voting took place in the final phase include West and East Champaran, Sitamarhi, Madhubani, Supaul, Araria, and Kishanganj, all sharing borders with Nepal. PTI SUK NAC PKD ACD RBT PYK MNB BDC