There was a 55.22 per cent turnout in Phase 3 of Bihar polls, the Election Commission said today. In the last elections in 2015, the total turnout was 56.66 per cent. An estimated 54.1 per cent of the 2.34 crore voters have cast vote till 5 pm in Bihar where 78 assembly segments of the 243-strong Bihar Assembly are voting in the third and final phase of assembly elections in the state, in which stakes are quite high for Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who is up against multiple rivals, including former ally Chirag Paswan.
Loktantrik Janata Dal (LJD) chief Sharad Yadav's daughter Subhashini Raj Rao, who is contesting on a Congress ticket, is among the 1,204 candidates, including the outgoing Bihar Assembly Speaker and 12 members of the state cabinet, contesting in this phase. Counting of votes is scheduled on November 10.
Besides, polling will also take place for Valmiki Nagar Lok Sabha seat where a by-election has been necessitated by the death of sitting JD(U) MP Baidyanath Mahato.
In 2015 polls, JD( U ) and BJP won 43 of these 78 seats, while the RJD-Congress combine garnered 31 seats in the third phase.
Here are the LIVE updates on Bihar Election 2020 Voting Phase 3:
The opposition coalition in Bihar led by Tejashwi Yadav will win 128 seats, just past the majority mark, and incumbent Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's National Democratic Alliance will win 99, an aggregate of opinion polls said on Saturday after three-phase voting completed in the state. Read more
There was a 55.22 per cent turnout in Phase 3 of Bihar polls, the Election Commission said today. In the last elections in 2015, the total turnout was 56.66 per cent.
The third and final phase of assembly elections concluded today in Bihar in which stakes are quite high for Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who is up against multiple rivals, including former ally Chirag Paswan. The Rashtriya Janata Dal, once considered an election-winning machine in Bihar, is hoping for a comeback, enthused by the response its chief ministerial candidate Tejashwi Yadav, 31, received in his over two dozen rallies. The RJD is part of an alliance comprising its old ally, the Congress, besides the Left parties. This morning, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made an appeal to voters to "set a new record" as polling began in the final phase. PM Modi, who attended 12 rallies during the campaign, had come out with an open letter addressed to the people of the state on Thursday saying he "needed" Nitish Kumar in the state so that the development of Bihar continued unhindered."
In Phase 3 of Bihar elections, the voter turnout till 5pm was 54.1 per cent
Amid the ongoing polling for the third phase of Bihar Assembly, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Saturday took a swipe at incumbent Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, stating that people will send him into retirement as the Janata Dal-United (JDU) chief has played his innings."
An estimated 34.80 per cent of the 2.34 crore voters have cast vote till 1 pm.
7.70% voter turnout has been recorded till 9 am in the final phase.