Bihar polls: Voting begins in 1st phase

As many as 1,066 candidates are in the fray, contesting from the 71 seats

bihar voting gaya ani A polling station in Gaya | Twitter handle of ANI

Voting in the first phase of the Bihar Assembly elections commenced at 7am on Wednesday. As many as 1,066 candidates are in the fray, contesting from the 71 seats for which voting will be held in the first phase. The second phase of voting will be on November 3 and final phase on November 7, while counting of votes would be held on November 10.

Of the nearly 2.15 crore electors eligible to exercise the franchise, 1.12 crore are male, 1.01 crore female and 599 are categorised as third gender, according to data provided by the Election Commission.

As many as 33 of the constituencies going to polls in the first phase have been declared as “sensitive or hypersensitive” constituencies. Most of Bihar's Naxalite-affected areas will vote in the first phase of polls.

Several members of the Nitish Kumar cabinet are contesting from seats for which voting will be held in the first phase. These ministers are Krishnandan Verma, Prem Kumar, Jay Kumar Singh, Santosh Kumar Nirala, Vijay Sinha and Ram Narayan Mandal. Another key candidate contesting in the first phase is Jitan Ram Manjhi, former chief minister and leader of the Hindustani Awam Morcha, who is part of the NDA. Manjhi is contesting from Imamganj against Uday Narayan Choudhary of the RJD.

The Bihar polls are the first major election in India to be held amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The Election Commission had announced a number of protocols to ensure safe polling, including increased number of polling stations and provision of hand sanitisers, hand gloves and other equipment. The Election Commission had announced polling stations, except in Naxalite-affected areas, would stay open until 6pm to allow COVID-19 patients to vote in the final hour.

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