Record 69 per cent turnout caps Bihar’s high-stakes polls
Bihar on Tuesday witnessed a record-breaking turnout of nearly 69 per cent in the second and final phase of assembly polls, wrapping up a nearly month-long exercise that saw the ruling NDA defend its “sushasan” pitch against the opposition’s onslaught, promising “change”.
The results, which will be declared on November 14, will decide whether Nitish Kumar, the JD(U) president and the longest serving Chief Minister, secures yet another tenure or his former deputy Tejashwi Yadav, who has likened the 20-year-old regime to a “rickety old car” (khataara), takes the wheel.
Briefing reporters, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Vinod Singh Gunjiyal said the state recorded 68.79 per cent voter turnout, provisionally, in the second and final phase of the assembly polls.
In both phases, the state registered a voter turnout of 66.90 per cent, provisionally, which is 9.6 percentage points more than the last assembly polls, the CEO added.
However, an ECI statement issued from New Delhi put the voter turnout at 68.76 per cent. The female turnout (74.03 per cent) was significantly higher, compared with males (64.1 per cent).
The statement also disclosed that women had outnumbered men in the first phase as well, with female turnout 71.6 per cent as against only 62.8 per cent male electors who cast their votes.
While Yadav and his allies in the INDIA bloc claim that the high turnout was indicative of a very strong “anti-incumbency” sentiment, NDA leaders have been quick to counter that heavy polling does not necessarily spell change, citing past instances of incumbents retaining power.
Tarkishore Prasad, senior BJP leader and a former deputy CM, who is contesting from Katihar, told PTI video “the high voter turnout is a result of the enthusiasm in the public, especially women, who are determined to reward the Nitish Kumar government which has made available 125 units of free power, provided females with Rs 10,000 under Mukhya Mantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana and also announced a substantial hike in various social security pension schemes”.