First phase of Bihar Assembly Elections today in 18 districts
New Delhi: The first phase of the Bihar Assembly Elections 2025 will take place on Thursday, with polling being held for 121 constituencies across 18 districts.
More than 3.75 crore voters are eligible to decide the fate of 1,314 candidates, including 122 women contenders. Voting will begin at 7 a.m. and will continue until 6 p.m., though in select sensitive areas such as Simri Bakhtiyarpur, Mahishi, Tarapur, Munger, Jamalpur, and parts of Suryagarha, polling will conclude at 5 p.m. due to security considerations.
Polling is being conducted at 45,324 booths, all of which are being 100 per cent webcast for real-time monitoring.
The Election Commission has deployed 121 general observers, 18 police observers, and 33 expenditure observers to ensure free, fair, and transparent elections. A special control room has also been established at the Chief Electoral Officer’s Office in Patna, where voters can register complaints through helplines and email.
Security has been tightened across all polling stations with the deployment of state police and Central Armed Paramilitary Forces. To promote inclusivity, 926 all-women-managed booths and 107 Divyang (differently-abled) managed booths have been set up. In addition, 320 model booths have been created to provide enhanced facilities for voters.
Among the key districts going to the polls today are Patna, Vaishali, Nalanda, Bhojpur, Munger, Saran, Siwan, Gopalganj, and Muzaffarpur.
From the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), JD(U) is contesting 57 seats, BJP 48, LJP (Ram Vilas) 14, and Rashtriya Lok Morcha 2.
The Mahagathbandhan alliance has RJD contesting 73 seats, Congress 24, and CPI(ML) 14. Other parties in the fray include Vikas Sheel Insaan Party with 5 candidates, and CPI and CPM with 3 candidates each.
The newly formed Indian Inclusive Party (IIP) is contesting 3 seats, while the Jan Suraj Party has fielded 119 candidates.
The political fortunes of several prominent leaders, including Deputy Chief Ministers Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha, will be decided in this phase. Sixteen state ministers are also in the fray. The Mahagathbandhan’s chief ministerial candidate, Tejashwi Yadav, is contesting for the third time from Raghopur constituency.