More than two crore voters are expected to vote for 1,066 candidates across 71 constituencies in the first phase of the 2020 Bihar assembly elections.
The states saw 33.11% voter turnout till 1 pm on the first day of polling.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) is contesting in 35 of the 71 seats, followed by ally BJP (29), while the opposition RJD led by Tejashwi Yadav has fielded its candidates in 42 seats with coalition partner Congress in the fray in 20 assembly segments.
Lok Janshakti Party, headed by Chirag Paswan, is in the fray in 41 seats, which include all the 35 contested by the JD(U), in keeping with the call given by the young party president to “dislodge” the chief minister from power.
Voting will continue till 6 pm today.
Here are the live updates:
7.10 pm: 53.54% Voter Turnout Till 6 pm
The voter turnout of 53.54% was recorded till 6 pm in the first phase of Bihar Assembly elections.
5:10 pm: 47.98% Voter Turnout Till 5 pm
As Bihar went to polls on Wednesday, 47.98% was recorded till 5 pm. There is still one our of polling to go.
This is the first election being held in India after the Covid-19 pandemic.
3:10 pm: BJP Files Complaint With EC Over Rahul Gandhi’s Tweet Asking For Votes
The BJP has filed a complaint with the Election Commission against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for asking for votes for the Mahagathbandhan as phase one of polling in Bihar is under way.
Gandhi had tweeted asking people to vote for the Mahagathbandhan.
1:45 pm: Bihar Sees 33.11% Voter Turnout Till 1 pm
According to the voter turnout app of the elections commission, till 1 pm Bihar saw voter turnout of 33.11%
1:15 pm: Return Of ‘Jungle Raj’ In Bihar Will Be ‘Double Whammy’ During Pandemic, Says Modi
As Bihar went to polls in the first phase, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed rallies on Wednesday saying Bihar will face “double whammy” if they vote for “jungle raj” during the pandemic.
PTI quoted Modi as saying in a rally in Muzaffarpur, “Bihar will face double whammy if proponents of ’jungle raj″ return to power during pandemic.”
Modi also said, “Bihar elections an opportunity to re-elect those who pulled state out of darkness.”
12:36 pm: 18.30% Voter Turnout Recorded Till 11 am
Over 18.30% voter turnout has been recorded till 11 AM in the first phase of Bihar assembly polls on Wednesday, the Election Commission said in its provisional data.
A total of 71 assembly segments of the state’s 243 constituencies are voting in the first phase in which nearly 2.15 crore voters will decide the electoral fate of over 1,000 candidates.
As per the provisional voter turnout data updated by the Election Commission at 11 AM, 18.31% of the total electorates have exercised their franchise.
The 71 constituencies are spread across 16 districts.
The maximum 26.76%t turnout has been recorded in Lakhisarai, followed by Nawada (23.42%) and Banka (22.58%).
Among other districts, Buxar has recorded 19.10% turnout, Gaya 19.02%, Aurangabad 18.46%, Sheikhpura 17.31%, Kaimur (Bhabua) 16.98 % and Bhojpur 16.21%.
(PTI)
11:50 am: FIR Against BJP’s Prem Kumar For Wearing Party Symbol To Polling Booth
An FIR has been filed against BJP leader Prem Kumar for violating the model code of conduct. He wore a mask with BJP’s lotus symbol on it.
Kumar is a minister in Nitish Kumar’s cabinet.
10:47 am: CM Playing Role Of General Dyer, Says Chirag Paswan On Munger Shooting
10:20 am Chirag Paswan Tejashwi Yadav’s B Team, Says JD(U)’s Sanjay Jha
Hitting out at LJP leader Chirag Paswan, JD(U)’s Sanjay Jha said that Paswan was helping RJD and Tejashwi Yadav.
ANI quoted Jha as saying, “It has been proved that Chirag Paswan is Tejashwi Yadav’s B team, now do we need to say anything more? To help Tejashwi, this entire game is being played. Chirag Paswan has failed in ‘Reel’ life as well as in his real life.”
9:50 am: Tejashwi Yadav Slams ‘Double-Engine’ Govt For Munger Killing
RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav on Wednesday condemned the firing Munger that kulled one person.
NDTV quoted him as saying, “This double-engine government definitely had a role in it.”
9:40 am: BJP’s Jamui Candidate Shreyasi Singh Casts Vote
Shooter Shreyasi Singh is BJP’s candidate from Jamui and an ace shooter who won a gold in the Commonwealth Games in 2018.
ANI reported that she cast her vote in Naya Gaon.
Read more about her here
9:26 am: Voters Without Masks Being Given Masks
While Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked voters to wear masks to the polling booth, NDTV showed that some of them weren’t.
The news channel said that people were being provided masks at polling booths if they weren’t wearing any.
9.06 am: Mahagathbandhan condemns Munger police firing
The RJD-led Mahagathbandhan on Wednesday held a press conference to condemn firing by the police at Munger a day before.
One person was killed and over two dozen people, including security personnel, were injured in firing and stone-pelting during the Durga idol immersion in Munger, police said.
While people alleged a young man, who was in his early 20s, died in police firing, the administration said he was hit by a bullet fired by somebody from among the crowd.
A purported video of the incident shows security personnel baton-charging a group of people in the immersion procession. Also a disturbing image has been circulating on social media which shows the man purportedly killed in the incident lying motionless on the ground with his head split open, PTI reported.
8.04 am: Chirag says Nitish will ditch NDA after poll results
The LJP chief tweets a single vote given to Nitish Kumar would weaken Bihar and strengthen the Mahagathbandhan led by RJD.
“Sahab (Nitish) has made preparations to leave BJP and go to RJD after poll results,” he said.
7.56 am: Nadda slams Chirag
BJP chief JP Nadda on Tuesday slammed LJP’s Chirag Paswan saying his praise for Modi while berating Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was a “conspiracy” to split votes, which could benefit the opposition RJD.
Chirag recently pulled out of the NDA in Bihar while vowing to defeat Nitish Kumar and his JD(U) and ensuring that the BJP headed the next government.
7.45 am: Nitish govt ’drunk on power and arrogance, Sonia says
Congress president Sonia Gandhi, on the other hand, said the JDU-BJP government was high on power, arrogant and deviating from its path, as she made a fervent appeal to the electorate to herald a change in the state and build a “new Bihar”.
In a four-minute video message in Hindi, she claimed the present dispensation led by Nitish Kumar was “neither saying good nor doing good” while the labourers were helpless, farmers upset and youth disappointed with it.
“Drunk on power and arrogance, the government in Bihar has deviated from its path. Their words and deeds are suspect. The labourers are helpless, the farmers upset and the youth disappointed. People are bearing the brunt of the fragile state of the economy.
7. 41 am: Modi talks of ‘dynasty of corruption’ on eve of polls
“During the past decades, we have seen that when one generation of corrupt people is not punished adequately, its subsequent generations indulge in corruption with more impunity,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said.
“Because of this, it has become a part of the political culture in some states. Corruption running through generations and the dynasty of corruption are hollowing out the country like termites,” Modi said.
He made the remarks at a three-day national conference on vigilance and anti-corruption organised by the CBI.
The PM is expected to address three election rallies today.
7.29 am: Politicians urge everyone to vote
7.14 am: IEDs recovered from Imamganj on eve of polling
Times of India reports three improvised explosive devices (IEDs) were recovered by security personnel from two different places in Imamganj of Gaya district on Tuesday evening.
6.49 am: Face off in Imamganj
The reserved Imamganj seat in Gaya district, which falls under Aurangabad Lok Sabha constituency, will see a clash of titans.
Former chief minister and Hindustani Awam Morcha president Jitan Ram Manjhi, who is the NDA candidate, is the sitting MLA.
His bid to retain the seat is challenged by his predecessor Uday Narayan Chaudhary who had been associated with the JD(U) till a few years ago but is now in the fray as the RJD nominee.
6.42 am: Cabinet members in the running
Six members of the state cabinet Prem Kumar (Gaya Town), Vijay Kumar Sinha (Lakhisarai), Ram Narayan Mandal (Banka), Krishnanandan Prasad Verma (Jehanabad), Jaikumar Singh (Dinara) and Santosh Kumar Nirala (Rajpur) are also in the fray in the first phase.
Verma, Singh and Nirala belong to the JD(U), while the remaining are from the BJP. The JD(U) ministers seek to win their seats contending with the LJP factor.
Verma, who has held key portfolios like education and social welfare, faces the additional challenge of wresting an RJD bastion for his party, having been asked to shift base from Ghosi where the JD(U) has fielded Rahul Kumar.
6.37 am: Candidate debuts
Prominent candidates include Shreyasi Singh, the Commonwealth Games gold medallist shooter who is making her debut at the age of 27 as the BJP candidate from Jamui.
Chirag Paswan, who represents Jamui Lok Sabha and insists that he remains loyal to the BJP under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has assured full support of his party to the young debutant.
Former Union ministerJaiprakash Narayan Yadav’s daughter Divya Prakash is also making her debut in the adjoining Tarapur constituency as the RJD candidate.
6.30 am: First state election of the covid era
Guidelines have been issued by the Election Commission for safe conduct of the electoral exercise.
Maximum number of voters for a polling booth has been lowered from 1,600 to 1,000. Polling hours have been staggered with postal ballot facility for those above 80, or those afflicted with or suspected to be carrying the virus.
EC guidelines include sanitisation of electronic voting machines, wearing of masks and other protective gear by polling personnel and availability of thermal scanner, hand sanitiser, soap and water will be ensured.