Voting for 94 constituencies spread across 17 districts of Bihar is currently underway in the second phase of elections. Polling will take place across constituencies like Maharajganj, Darbhanga Rural, Gopalpur, Siwan, Madhubani, Begusarai, Bettiah and Raghunathpur.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's home district Nalanda will also go to polls in the second phase. Around 2.85 crore voters will decide the electoral fate of the Mahagathbandhan's CM face and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav. The fate of other big leaders like Tej Pratap Yadav, Congress leader Shatrughan Sinha's son Luv Sinha and four state ministers will also be sealed in ballot boxes today.
Of the 2.85 crore voters, who will exercise their right to vote today, 1.50 crore are male, 1.35 crore are female voters, whereas 980 are transgenders, as per the Election Commission data. Polling began at 7am and will go on till 06:00 pm. Voters who are diagnosed as COVID-19 positive will be allowed to exercise their right to vote at the last hour. In the naxal hit areas, voting will conclude early.
The EC has set up as many as 18,823 polling stations, where people can cast their votes across 41,632 booths. Given the COVID-19 situation, not more than 1,000 voters will be allowed to vote at one polling booth and wearing face masks is mandatory. The Election Commission has provided 12.8 lakh hand sanitiser bottles (100ml each) and 6.4 lakh bottles (500ml each) have been provided across the state for use during polling.
The EC has also provided 1.06 lakh infrared thermometers, 12.8 lakh face shields, 56 lakh masks and 25.6 lakh pairs of gloves for the exercise. Additional Director General of Police (Headquarter) Jitendra Kumar said that the state police will supplement central forces at voting locations with larger numbers as compared to Phase-1.
Meanwhile, the voter turnout during phase-1 on October 28 reached over 55 per cent despite the coronavirus pandemic. The final phase of voting is scheduled to take place on November 7. The results of the Bihar Assembly elections 2020 will be declared on November 10.