Chief Minister Nitish Kumar sees the message of development in the record voter turnout.

After a record voter turnout in the first phase of polling, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar expressed his gratitude to the people of the state. On Friday morning, he took to social media platform X (formerly Twitter) and wrote,

“Heartfelt thanks to the people of Bihar for the record voting in the first phase. Over the past few years, Bihar has made remarkable progress. Now the time has come to place Bihar among the most developed states of the country.”

He further wrote,

“In a democracy, voting is not just a right—it is also a responsibility. I urge everyone to participate in the upcoming second phase of voting on November 11 with the same enthusiasm, so that Bihar can move further ahead, ensuring respect and development for all.”

On Thursday, polling was held in 121 assembly constituencies across 18 districts of the state. Chief Electoral Officer Vinod Singh Gunjiyaal stated that the first phase of elections was conducted peacefully and recorded a voter turnout of 64.69%, the highest in Bihar’s electoral history.

According to data released by the Election Commission, Muzaffarpur registered the highest turnout at 71.41%, followed by Samastipur (71.22%), Madhepura (69.03%), Begusarai (69.58%), Saharsa (69.16%), Vaishali (67.68%), Khagaria (67.65%), and Gopalganj (66.58%).

Comparatively lower turnouts were recorded in Patna (58.40%), Bhojpur (58.91%), Nalanda (59.33%), and Siwan (60.54%).

In the first phase, a total of 3,75,13,302 voters were eligible to vote across the 18 districts and 121 constituencies — comprising 1,98,35,325 men, 1,76,77,219 women, and 758 third-gender voters.

A total of 45,341 polling stations were set up across the state — 36,733 in rural areas and 8,608 in urban areas.

According to Nitish Kumar, the record turnout in the first phase reflects the people’s faith in Bihar’s development journey, and he has urged citizens to maintain the same level of democratic participation in the second phase as well.