Festival of Democracy in Bihar: 53.77% voter turnout recorded in the first phase of polling.

The first phase of the Bihar Assembly elections is underway across 121 constituencies in 18 districts of the state. As of 3 p.m., the voter turnout stood at 53.77%, with Begusarai district recording the highest turnout at 59.82%.

Polling began at 7 a.m. and will continue until 6 p.m., though in 56 booths under the Simri Bakhtiyarpur, Mahishi, Tarapur, Munger, Jamalpur, and Suryagarha constituencies, voting will conclude an hour earlier at 5 p.m. due to security concerns.

Prominent leaders including Chief Minister and JD(U) President Nitish Kumar, Deputy Chief Minister and BJP leader Samrat Choudhary, Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai, LJP (Ram Vilas) chief Chirag Paswan, and Grand Alliance Deputy CM and VIP chief Mukesh Sahani cast their votes in their respective constituencies.

Voting is taking place in districts such as Patna, Vaishali, Nalanda, Bhojpur, Munger, Saran, Siwan, Begusarai, Lakhisarai, Gopalganj, Muzaffarpur, Darbhanga, Madhepura, and Saharsa. The Election Commission has deployed tight security arrangements to ensure free, fair, and peaceful polling.