NewzVille Desk
The first phase of Assembly elections in Bihar strated today. 121 constituencies spread over 18 districts are going to the polls in this phase. These include Patna, Vaishali, Nalanda, Bhojpur, Munger, Saran, Siwan, Begusarai, Lakhisarai, Gopalganj, Muzaffarpur, Darbhanga, Madhepura, and Saharsa. Polling began at 7 AM and will ontinue till 6 PM.
However, due to security reasons, voting will conclude at 5 PM in Simri Bakhtiyarpur, Mahishi, Tarapur, Munger, Jamalpur, and in 56 polling booths of the Suryagarha Assembly segment.
Elaborate security arrangements have been made to ensure free, fair, and peaceful polling. A state-of-the-art Command and Control Centre has been set up to monitor the poll process, with webcasting from all 45,341 polling stations.
Central Armed Police Forces, along with state police, have been deployed across all polling stations. To promote women’s empowerment, 926 all-women-managed booths and 107 booths managed by Divyangjan (specially-abled) personnel have been established.
Additionally, 320 model booths have been set up with enhanced facilities for voters.
A special control room has been established at the Chief Electoral Officer’s office in Patna. Voters can register complaints on phone number 0612-2824001, fax 0612-2215611, or email ceo_bihar@eci.gov.in and ceobihar@gmail.com.
Several voter-centric initiatives, including mobile deposit facilities, will also be available during the elections.
In the first phase of the assembly elections, the political fate of a total of 1,314 candidates will be decided by over 3.75 crore electors. Among them are 122 women candidates.
In the Mahagathbandhan, RJD has fielded the highest number of 73 candidates, followed by 24 from Congress and 14 from CPI (ML) in the first phase.
Mukesh Sahani led Vikas Sheel Insaan Party has given tickets to 5 candidates; CPM and CPI are contesting three seats each. The new constituent of the opposition, the Indian Inclusive Party ( IIP), is contesting in three assembly segments.
From the NDA side, JD(U) is contesting the highest number of 57 seats, followed by BJP on 48, LJP (Ram Vilas) on 14, and Rashtriya Lok Morcha on 2 seats.
The newly floated Jan Suraj Party has fielded 119 candidates in this phase. BSP, Pashupati Kumar Paras led Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party and AIMIM have also fielded many candidates in this phase.
Apart from Deputy Chief Ministers Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha from Tarapur and Lakhisarai seats, several prominent candidates are in the fray.
The electoral fortunes of 16 Ministers of Nitish Kumar’s cabinet will also be decided in this phase. Mahagathbandhans’ Chief Ministerial candidate Tejashwi Prasad Yadav is contesting from Raghopur.
Former Union Minister and former MP Ram Kripal Yadav is contesting from Danapur assembly segment as a BJP nominee.
Famous folk singer Maithili Thakur from Alinagar and Bhojpuri actor and singer Kheshari Lal Yadav from Chapra are trying their luck first time in politics.
Deputy Speaker of Bihar Assembly Narendra Narayan Yadav, former Speaker Awadh Bihari Choudhaty, and Shahabuddin’s son Osama Shahab are among the prominent candidates in this phase.
