Reg No. - CHHBIL/2010/41479ISSN - 2582-919X
Polling begins for first phase of Bihar assembly elections
With the first phase, the high-stakes Bihar battle kicks off between opposition’s Mahagatbandhan, including the Congress and RJD, and the NDA led by Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) in the State.
The first phase of the Bihar Assembly elections kicked off early Thursday (November 6, 2025) with over 3.75 crore voters set to cast their ballots in 121 of the State’s 243 constituencies. The voting began at 7 a.m. will continue till 5 p.m. across 45,341 polling stations. The polling percentage stood at 13.13% at 9 a.m. with the maximum turnout recorded in Saharsa district (15.27%) .This phase is particularly significant for the Mahagatbandhan, which had secured 63 of these seats in the 2020 elections. The BJP and Janata Dal (United) together had won 55.
This phase is crucial for the smaller parties in both coalitions. Ten of the 20 seats CPI(ML) is contesting fall under this phase, out of which they hold six seats. In NDA, ten of the 29 seats that the Lok Janshakti Party (Ramvilas) contested are in the first phase. NDA holds only one of these ten seats. The LJP(RV)’s seat share had sparked discontent among NDA allies, particularly the JD(U), who argued that the party’s allocation was disproportionate given its lack of representation in the Assembly.
Several top leaders are in fray in this phase, including the Opposition’s Chief Ministerial face Tejashwi Yadav and over a dozen BJP and JD(U) Ministers in the Nitish Kumar government, including Deputy Chief Ministers Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha. Young folk singer Maithili Thakur (BJP-Aliganj), and Bhojpuri superstars Khesari Lal Yadav (RJD-Chhapra) and Ritesh Pandey (Jan Suraaj Party – Kargahar) are contesting in the first phase.
November 06, 2025 09:53
Golden opportunity to teach lesson to ‘opportunistic rulers’: Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge
Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday (November 6, 2025) urged the people of Bihar to vote for change, adding that they have a golden opportunity to teach a lesson to the “opportunistic rulers” who have betrayed them by branding “corruption, misgovernance, and jungle raj as development”.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra urged the people of Bihar to vote for jobs, education, health, a bright future for the state, and to protect their right to vote.
They made the remarks in a post on
November 06, 2025 09:31
With both Tejashwi and Tej Pratap in the fray, Rabri Devi conveys ‘best wishes to both sons’ after casting vote
After casting her vote in the first phase of the Bihar polls, former CM Rabri Devi wished both her sons contesting, including Tej Pratap Yadav who is fighting from the Mahua Assembly seat by forming his own political party Janshakti Janata Dal.
“My best wishes to both my sons. Tej Pratap is contesting on his own. I am their mother. Good luck to both of them,” she said at the polling booth where she was seen with her younger son Tejashwi Yadav, who is the opposition’s CM candidate, and her husband and former Bihar CM Lalu Prasad.
November 06, 2025 09:24
Bihar polls: Delegates from Colombia visit a model polling booth in Nalanda
Colombian delegates visited a model polling booth in Nalanda where DM Kundan Kumar explained the voting process ahead of the Bihar Assembly election commencement.
As many as 14 delegates from seven countries are expected to witness up close the first phase of the Bihar assembly polls as part of an international visitors’ programme of the Election Commission of India. The 14 participants include those from France, South Africa, Belgium, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Colombia.
November 06, 2025 09:08
Bihar Phase 1 polling: Voting delayed in Saharsa
Voting delayed in Saharsa constituency as voters wait in long queues due to EVM-VVPAT malfunction, PTI reported.
November 06, 2025 08:56
Ministers Giriraj Singh, Rajiv Ranjan Lalan among early voters in Bihar polls Phase 1
Several senior politicians were among those who cast their votes early during the first phase of the Bihar Assembly polls on Thursday (November 6, 2025).
Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Kumar Sinha and Union minister Giriraj Singh cast their votes at respective booths in Lakhisarai, while Union minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh ‘Lalan’ exercised his franchise in the state capital Patna.
State Road Construction Minister Nitin Nabin voted along with his wife Deepmala Srivastava at a polling booth in Patna’s Digha assembly segment.
November 06, 2025 08:44
Bihar election Phase 1 polling: Keenly watched contests in Raghunathpur and Mokama seats
Raghunathpur constituency going to polls on Thursday (November 6, 2025) in the first phase of the Bihar Assembly election is being keenly watched because of Osama Shahab, the 31-year-old son of deceased gangster-turned-politician Mohd Shahabuddin, a several-term MP from Siwan who was known as the “uncrowned king” of the area.
Mr. Osama’s candidature has been latched onto by the NDA, which cites it as proof that the RJD stood for “return of jungle raj”, and BJP leaders like Himanta Biswa Sarma have even pointed out that the name reminded one of slain terrorist Osama Bin Laden.
The other seat in focus will be in Mokama, where JD(U)’s Anant Singh, who is in jail in connection with the killing of a Jan Suraaj Party supporter during the election campaign, is locked in a straight battle with RJD’s Veena Devi, married to Suraj Bhan, a gangster.
November 06, 2025 08:37
Bihar polls: Khesari Lal Yadav among celebs contesting in Phase 1 today
Bhojpuri superstar Khesari Lal Yadav is the RJD candidate from Chapra seat where polling is underway today. Speaking at a polling station in Bihar, Mr. Yadav said: “People commenting on me has nothing to do with Bihar’s development. I have not come here to fight any individual, I have come here for Bihar’s development, better education, stopping migration, for jobs, employment, hospital… I believe that you can’t think of better development in Bihar till the time this government is removed.”
November 06, 2025 08:07
Bihar Phase 1 polling: Mahagatbandhan CM face Tejashwi Yadav in the fray from Raghopur seat
The high-stakes battle that kicked off with the voting for phase 1 of the Bihar Assembly Election will decide the fate of Opposition’s Chief Ministerial face Tejashwi Yadav.
Yadav appealed to voters to participate in the polling process and said, “Voting is crucial for the sake of democracy, the Constitution, and humanity”.
The RJD candidate aims at a hat-trick in the Raghopur seat, while his principal challenger, Satish Kumar of the BJP, had defeated his mother Rabri Devi in 2010 while contesting on a JD(U) symbol.
November 06, 2025 07:45
Bihar polls Phase 1: With polling underway, here are the seats in focus
While the RJD succession battle has long been settled in favour of Mr. Tejashwi Yadav, this phase will also decide whether his estranged elder brother Tej Pratap Yadav, who floated his own outfit, the Janshakti Janata Dal, will be able to mount a challenge. He is contesting from the Mahua Assembly seat.
Two other seats that are being closely watched are Mokama and Raghunathpur. In Mokama, the JD(U)’s Anant Singh, recently arrested in connection with the murder of a Jan Suraaj Party supporter, is up against the RJD’s Veena Devi, wife of Suraj Bhan, who also faces multiple criminal charges.
In Raghunathpur, Osama Shahab, the 31-year-old son of the late gangster-turned-politician Mohd Shahabuddin, is contesting on an RJD ticket.
November 06, 2025 07:34
Bihar Phase 1 polling: RJD’s Veena Devi makes an appeal to voters
As polling kicked off for Phase 1 of the Bihar Assembly Elections, the RJD candidate from Mokama seat, Veena Devi, offered prayers at a temple ahead and appealed to the voters, saying, “I want to tell the voters that they should not fear anyone and vote peacefully. There is no need to fear anyone.”
November 06, 2025 07:10
Bihar Assembly polls: Voting begins in Phase 1 across 121 constituencies
The first phase of the Bihar Assembly elections kicked off early Thursday (November 6, 2025) with over 3.75 crore voters set to cast their ballots in 121 of the State’s 243 constituencies. Voting began at 7 a.m. and will continue till 5 p.m. across 45,341 polling stations, an overwhelming majority of which fall in rural areas (36,733).
In the first phase, a total of 3.75 crore voters will decide the electoral fate of 1,314 candidates, including top leaders such as INDIA bloc’s chief ministerial face Tejashwi Yadav and Deputy CM Samrat Choudhary of the BJP.
This phase is particularly significant for the Mahagatbandhan, which had secured 63 of these seats in the 2020 elections. The BJP and Janata Dal (United) together had won 55.
November 06, 2025 07:00
Bihar polls: PM Modi urges voters to cast their ballot ahead of Phase 1 voting
Ahead of polling for Phase 1 of Bihar Assembly Election, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday (November 6, 2025) appealed to the voters in the State to come forth and cast their ballot “in full enthusiasm”. In a post in Hindi on X, he also extended his greeting to the first time voters who will be voting to choose their representatives, in the spirit of democracy.
“Today in Bihar is the first phase of the festival of democracy. My appeal to all voters of this phase in the Assembly elections is that they should vote with full enthusiasm. On this occasion, my special congratulations to all my young companions of the state who are going to cast their vote for the first time. Remember—first voting, then refreshments!” PM Modi’s post read.
November 06, 2025 06:51
Bihar Assembly election: Preparations underway at a polling booth in Bakhtiarpur
Preparations underway at Manju Sinha Project Girls’ Higher Secondary School, Bakhtiarpur, for Phase 1 voting. CM Nitish Kumar will cast his vote at a polling booth here.
November 06, 2025 06:42
Bihar polls Phase 1 voting: Top leaders, celebs including RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav in the fray
Several top leaders are in fray in this phase, including the Opposition’s Chief Ministerial face Tejashwi Yadav and over a dozen BJP and JD(U) Ministers in the Nitish Kumar government, including Deputy Chief Ministers Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha. Mr. Choudhary is contesting a direct election after about a decade from Tarapur. Former Bihar BJP chief and State Minister Mangal Pandey is also contesting his first Assembly election from Siwan.
This phase will also test the electoral appeal of celebrities. Young folk singer Maithili Thakur (BJP-Aliganj), and Bhojpuri superstars Khesari Lal Yadav (RJD-Chhapra) and Ritesh Pandey (Jan Suraaj Party – Kargahar) are contesting in the first phase.
November 06, 2025 06:28
Bihar election: Phase 1 voting to kick off at 7 a.m.; about 45,341 polling stations in action
Over 3.75 crore voters in Bihar will cast their ballots in the first phase of the Assembly election on Thursday (November 6, 2025), covering 121 of the State’s 243 constituencies. This phase is particularly significant for the Opposition Mahagatbandhan, which had secured 63 of these seats in the 2020 election. The ruling BJP and Janata Dal (United) together had won 55.
Voting will take place at 45,341 polling stations, an overwhelming majority of which (36,733) fall in rural areas. According to the Election Commission, of the 3.75 crore voters in the 121 constituencies, 10.72 lakh were “new electors”. The number of voters in the age group of 18-19 years, though, was 7.38 lakh.
( Source-PTI)
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