New Delhi, Nov 7 (NationPress) Following the conclusion of the initial phase of the Bihar elections, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar expressed his gratitude to the people of Bihar for achieving a remarkable voter turnout.

On the social media platform X, CM Nitish Kumar stated, “I extend my heartfelt appreciation to the people of Bihar for the exceptional voter turnout in the first phase. Bihar has witnessed extraordinary progress recently. It’s now time to propel Bihar into the ranks of the most developed states.”

He went on to emphasize, “In a democracy, casting your vote is not just a right but a fundamental duty. I encourage the people of Bihar to maintain this enthusiasm during the second phase on the 11th, so we can advance Bihar even further. Everyone deserves respect, and everyone should progress.”

The first phase of the Bihar Assembly elections wrapped up smoothly on Thursday with an impressive voter turnout of 64.66 percent, marking the highest in the state's electoral history, according to Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Vinod Singh Gunjiyal.

Polling took place across 121 Assembly constituencies in 18 districts, involving a total of 3,75,13,302 electors, comprising 1,98,35,325 male voters, 1,76,77,219 female voters, and 758 third-gender voters.

A total of 45,341 polling stations were established statewide, including 36,733 in rural regions and 8608 in urban areas.

Kundan Krishnan, Additional Director General (Law and Order) and State Police Nodal Officer, reported that the polling process was largely incident-free, with only two minor incidents occurring. One involved villagers in the Halsi block of Lakhisarai district allegedly throwing mud at the convoy of Vijay Kumar Sinha, the Deputy Chief Minister and BJP candidate.

In another event, unidentified individuals broke the window of a CPI(M) MLA’s vehicle in Daudnagar village within Saran district.

Krishnan mentioned that since the implementation of the Model Code of Conduct, authorities have confiscated 850 firearms and over 4,000 cartridges. He noted that the deployment of 500 companies of Central Armed Police Forces, in conjunction with the Bihar Police, and increased nighttime patrolling significantly contributed to maintaining peace. More than four lakh polling personnel arrived at their designated stations by 11:20 p.m. on Wednesday.

Mock polls were finalized before 7 a.m. on Thursday, with the presence of 67,902 polling agents representing 1,314 candidates (comprising 1,192 male and 122 female candidates), and polling commenced simultaneously at all 45,341 booths.

Over 90,000 Jeevika Didis, along with CAPF personnel, were positioned at polling stations to aid in the identification of women voters wearing burqas.