Over 52% voter turnout was been recorded till 5 p.m. in the first phase of Bihar assembly polls on Wednesday, the Election Commission said.
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.
Turnout was low early in the day but increased gradually despite raging coronavirus cases in the state. Voting ended at 6 p.m.
The 71 constituencies are spread across 16 districts.
In the 2015 assembly polls, the turnout in the phase one was 54.94%. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the corresponding turnout was 53.54%.
Polling Amid Pandemic
Of the nearly 2.15 crore voters eligible to exercise the franchise, 1.12 crore are male, 1.01 crore are female and 599 are categorised as third gender, according to data provided by the Election Commission.
Guidelines have been issued by the Commission for safe conduct of the electoral exercise in the midst of the raging Covid-19 pandemic.
These guidelines include lowering the maximum number of voters for a polling booth from 1,600 to 1,000, staggering the polling hours and extending postal ballot facility to those above 80.
Besides, sanitisation of electronic voting machines, wearing of masks and other protective gear by polling personnel and the availability of thermal scanner, hand sanitiser, soap and water are also to be ensured at polling stations.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi appealed to the people to follow all Covid-19 norms while going to cast their votes. "I urge all voters to ensure their participation in this festival of democracy taking all Covid-19 related precautions. Maintain a distance of two yards, and wear mask mandatorily," he said in a tweet.
बिहार विधानसभा चुनावों में आज पहले दौर की वोटिंग है।
October 28, 2020
सभी मतदाताओं से मेरा आग्रह है कि वे कोविड संबंधी सावधानियों को बरतते हुए, लोकतंत्र के इस पर्व में अपनी हिस्सेदारी सुनिश्चित करें।
दो गज की दूरी का रखें ध्यान, मास्क जरूर पहनें।
याद रखें, पहले मतदान, फिर जलपान!RJD leader and Mahagathbandhan's chief ministerial candidate Tejashwi Yadav urged people to vote for a better future, education, health, jobs and development for Bihar.
आज प्रथम चरण के मतदान के दिन बिहारवासियों के बेहतर भविष्य, शिक्षा, स्वास्थ्य, नौकरी, विकास और नए दौर में नए बिहार के निर्माण के लिए अपने मताधिकार का प्रयोग अवश्य करे और महागठबंधन के साथ बदलाव के सहभागी बने।
October 28, 2020
जय हिंद। जय बिहार।Congress leader Rahul Gandhi urged voters to cast their votes in favour of the ‘Mahagathbandhan' for justice, employment and farmers-workers.
इस बार न्याय, रोज़गार, किसान-मज़दूर के लिए
October 28, 2020
आपका वोट हो सिर्फ़ महागठबंधन के लिए।
बिहार के पहले चरण के मतदान की आप सभी को शुभकामनाएँ।#आज_बदलेगा_बिहारThe candidates in the fray in the first phase include 952 men and 114 women.
As many as 33 of the constituencies going to polls in the first phase have been declared as sensitive or hypersensitive constituencies, the Election Commission said.
It said 31,371 polling stations have been set up in this phase and as many Electronic Voting Machines and Voter-Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines will be used.
Additional Director General of Police (Headquarters) Jitendra Kumar told PTI-Bhasha that paramilitary forces have been deployed in adequate strength at all polling stations and the buildings housing them.
The local police has also been used to supplement the paramilitary forces wherever required, he said, adding the services of home guard jawans will also be taken at polling stations for works like maintaining the queue.
He said that as a precautionary measure, all security personnel deployed on poll duty have been given a coronavirus kit which has a face mask, gloves, a face shield and sanitisers.
Special security arrangements have been made for the Naxal-affected areas, Kumar said, as most of the state's Naxal-hit areas are going to polls in the first phase.
The administration will keep an aerial vigil also and one helicopter will be used for the purpose, he added.
Announcing the election schedule for the 243-member assembly on September 25, Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora had said that polls will open as usual at 7 a.m. but the voting hour will be extended by one hour until 6 p.m., except in the Left Wing Extremism affected areas, so that Covid-19 patients can vote in the last hour of the day.
“Bihar assembly polls will be one of the biggest elections globally to be held during prevailing Covid-19 situation," Arora had said.
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