Voting for the first phase of the three-phase Bihar assembly polls began this morning.
Voting for the first phase of the three-phase Bihar assembly polls - one of the world's largest electoral exercises to be held in the COVID-19 pandemic - began in 71 of the 243 assembly constituencies of the state this morning. The second phase voting will be held on November 3 and will cover 94 seats and the third phase of polling on 78 seats will be held on November 7. Guidelines have been issued by the poll body for the safe conduct of the electoral exercise amid the raging COVID-19 pandemic, including staggered polling hours and extending postal ballot facility for those above 80. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, leader of the Janata Dal (United) party, is seeking a fourth straight term and his first after he partnered with the BJP. His two main challengers are Tejashwi Yadav (Rashtriya Janata Dal) - main face of the opposition coalition in the state that also includes the Congress - and Chirag Paswan (Lok Janshakti Party) who snapped ties with the JD(U) just ahead of the elections.
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 per the poll body's guidelines, the maximum number of voters for a polling booth has been lowered from 1,600 to 1,000.
952 men and 114 women candidates are in the fray in the first phase of polling.
31,371 polling stations have been set up in the first phase and as many Electronic Voting Machines and Voter-Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines will be used.
The voting hours have also been extended by one hour until 6 pm, except in the Left-Wing Extremism affected areas, so that COVID-19 patients can vote in the last hour of the day, Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora had said while announcing the Bihar election schedule on September 25 .
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