Bihar poll closes with record turnout at 68.79% in phase 2

The second phase of polling for 122 assembly constituencies across 20 districts in Bihar concluded peacefully on Tuesday, with a record voter turnout of approximately 68.79%, which is the highest turnout ever recorded in the state since 1951. This contributed to an overall turnout of 66.91% across both phases, involving 74.5 million electors, marking a significant increase from the 57.29% recorded in the 2020 assembly elections.

- Anirban Guha Roy and Subhash Pathak

Chief Electoral Officer Vinod Singh Gunjiyal said that the figure could rise slightly as data from around 2,000 booths was still to be included. He highlighted the absence of violence across all 45,399 booths and added that 1,302 candidates were in the fray, including 136 women and one third-gender candidate. Gunjiyal added that the turnout reflected a 9.67% rise compared to the previous polls. “Around 35 booths in both phases, incl