The initial phase of the Bihar Legislative Assembly elections concluded yesterday with a remarkable voter turnout of 64.66 percent. The electronic voting machines have now locked in the electoral prospects of 1,314 candidates.
Key figures participating in this phase are BJP leaders and Deputy Chief Ministers Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha, along with 16 ministers from Nitish Kumar's cabinet, and RJD leader and Mahagathbandhan's Chief Ministerial candidate, Tejashwi Prasad Yadav.
Except for a few isolated incidents, the voting process was mostly peaceful. In Lakhisarai district, a group of troublemakers targeted the convoy of Deputy Chief Minister and BJP candidate Vijay Kumar Sinha near a polling station. The Election Commission has responded to the incident with seriousness and instructed DGP Vinay Kumar to take firm action against the perpetrators.
Representatives from six nations toured constituencies in Patna, Muzaffarpur, Vaishali, and Nalanda, which are preparing for elections, as part of the International Election Visitor Programme organized by the Election Commission. They monitored the voting process and commended the Election Commission's efforts to guarantee elections that are free, fair, and transparent.