Voting continues at various polling booths for the Bihar Assembly elections. Meanwhile, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has accused the Election Commission of malpractice, alleging that power supply is being cut at strong booths of the Mahagathbandhan to deliberately slow down voting.
However, the Election Commission has refuted the RJD's allegations. The RJD wrote in its X post: "In the midst of the first phase of voting, electricity is being intermittently cut off at strongholds of the Mahagathbandhan with the aim of slowing down voting."
It further stated: "Voting is being deliberately slowed down. The Election Commission should take immediate cognisance of such rigging, ill intentions, and malicious motives and take swift action."
Meanwhile, the Chief Electoral Officer of Bihar responded on the social media platform 'X', stating that the allegations are completely baseless and misleading. Voting is proceeding smoothly at all polling stations in Bihar.
He further added that the Election Commission of India is adhering to all standard protocols to ensure the election process is fair, transparent, and uninterrupted. There is no basis for such misleading propaganda.
It is noteworthy that the Election Commission is also monitoring the ongoing voting in Bihar through CCTV cameras. On Thursday morning, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and both Election Commissioners visited the Election Commission's control room to oversee the CCTV cameras installed in 100 percent of the polling stations for the first time.
Currently, voting for the first phase is underway from 7 AM for 121 assembly seats across 18 districts of Bihar. In the initial hours, 27.65 per cent voter turnout was recorded.
At the district level, Begusarai recorded the highest voter turnout until 11 AM (30.37 per cent). In contrast, Patna district has recorded the lowest voter turnout so far (23.71 per cent).
According to Election Commission data, at the assembly seat level, Garhkha recorded the highest voter turnout of 33.70 per cent by 11 AM. Additionally, 12 other seats have recorded more than 30 per cent voter turnout.
These include Cheria Bariarpur (33.32 per cent), Paru (32.81 per cent), Minapur (32.46 per cent), Hathua (32.40 per cent), Saharsa (32.17 per cent), Warisnagar (31.87 per cent), Suryagarh (31.85 per cent), Paliganj (31.53 per cent), Masaurhi (31.46 per cent), Vaishali (31.24 per cent), Khagaria (30.22 per cent), and Lalganj (30.12 per cent).
