Bihar Elections 2020 LIVE Updates: 55.22% Voter Turnout Recorded Till 5pm in Final Phase, Says EC

A 90-year-old voter is carried by ITBP jawan in Mujaffarpur to the polling booth.

Covid-19 Fails to Dampen Poll Spirit | The coronavirus pandemic failed to dampen the voters enthusiasm as several elderly and differently-abled electors, some assisted by their kin, some by security personnel and some others by volunteers, came out to vote in large numbers. The Election Commission has set up multiple model polling centres.Some wheelchair-bound voters were also facilitated to cast the ballot. However, COVID-19 guidelines were being violated at several polling booths.

Security personnel escort a man with physical disability as he arrives to cast his vote at a polling station for the third phase of Bihar Elections, at Raxaul in East Champaran district. (Image: PTI)

Plurals Party president Pushpam Priya Choudhary, who is also her party's chief ministerial candidate, cast her vote with her mother in a booth at Darbhanga. (Image: PTI)

Madhepura district's Bihariganj, from where veteran socialist leader Sharad Yadav's daughter Subhashini Yadav is making her poll debut on a Congress seat, has recorded polling percentage of 48.30 till 3 pm. Subhashini stood in a queue to cast her vote at a polling booth in Madhepura. After casting her vote, the 30-year-old said her father, who represented Madhepura multiple times in Lok Sabha, has worked honestly for development of the constituency and that is why he is respected by people of all religions and castes. 

Supaul Records Highest Turnout Till 3pm | The maximum turnout of 51.12 per cent till 3 pm has been recorded in Supaul district, and the minimum in Darbhanga (41.15 per cent). Supaul is followed by Saharsa (48.98), Muzaffarpur (48.43), Kishanganj (47.55), Purvi Champaran (47.46), Purnia (46.46), Vaishali (46.34), Madhepura (46.33), Pashchim Champaran (45.58), Samastipur (45.05), Madhubani (44.96), Sitamarhi (44.65), Araria (43.22), Katihar (43.11), and Darbhanga (41.15).

Voting is still going on for the third phase of polls in Vaishali. Precautions are being taken to ensure that the spread of Covid-19 is prevented as officials check temperature of voters and provide them sanitiser before voting.  

वैशाली: विभिन्न मतदान केंद्रों में वोटिंग जारी है
मास्क पहनकर बूथ चलेंगे, वोट करेंगे।#BiharElections_ThirdPhase pic.twitter.com/qz4tTJr5CK

— CEO Bihar #ElectionDepartmentBihar (@CEOBihar) November 7, 2020

As Bihar Assembly polls take place under the shadow the Covid-19 pandemic, female voters wearing masks maintain social distancing as they queue up outside the polling booth in Katihar. 

कटिहार में उत्साह के साथ वोटिंग में भागीदारी करती महिला मतदाता
मास्क पहनकर बूथ चलेंगे, वोट करेंगे।#BiharElections_ThirdPhase pic.twitter.com/yHwTzIi9kl

— CEO Bihar #ElectionDepartmentBihar (@CEOBihar) November 7, 2020

Visuals from the site of polling booth in Muzaffarpur in Bihar.

मुजफ्फरपुर: उत्साह के साथ वोटिंग करते मतदाता
मास्क पहनकर बूथ चलेंगे, वोट करेंगे।#BiharElections_ThirdPhase pic.twitter.com/eSbDkBC9gf

— CEO Bihar #ElectionDepartmentBihar (@CEOBihar) November 7, 2020

With 247 Meetings, Tejashwi Outshines Others on Campaign Trail | Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) President Lalu Prasad's son Tejashwi Yadav has addressed 247 public meetings on his own and held four road shows seeking votes for the Grand Alliance candidates. He held 12 public meetings in a day on an average. RJD spokesman Mrityunjay Tiwari says that from the beginning of the election campaign, Tejashwi Yadav held more than a dozen meetings every day.

45.85% Voter Turnout Till 3pm | The voter turnout in Bihar assembly elections for the third phase was 45.85 per cent till 3 pm. 

#BiharAssemblyElections2020
दिन में 3 बजे तक 45.85% मतदान।#BiharPolls pic.twitter.com/gytG9aSShg

— PIB In Bihar 🇮🇳 Mask yourself 😷 (@PIB_Patna) November 7, 2020

KEY PARTIES | Among the candidates in the fray, 37 belong to CM Nitish Kumar's JD(U), 35 to the BJP, while five are contesting on tickets of junior NDA ally Vikassheel Insaan Party and one from the Hindustani Awam Morcha. The candidates of the JD(U)-BJP include the assembly Speaker and 12 members of the state cabinet. The main opposition RJD is fighting 46 seats in the final phase, while its ally Congress is in the fray in 25. Ultra-Left outfit CPI(ML), which has joined the RJD-led Grand Alliance along with

'Nitish Kumar Will Never Become Bihar CM Again': Chirag Paswan | On the third day of polling, the LJP chief, Chirag Paswan said that incumbent Nitish Kumar "will never become the CM" again. "The way people are connecting with 'Bihar first, Bihari first', I believe our performance will be good in this phase too. One thing is very clear Nitish Kumar will never become the CM," Paswan said.

Madhubani Candidate Dies of Coronavirus | As Bihar goes to vote in the third phase, an independent candidate from Madhubani's Benipatti assembly seat died of coronavirus. Niraj Kumar Jha, was admitted since the last ten days in AIIMS Patna, where he died today.

The ruling Janata Dal (United) categorically dismissed suggestions that Kumar, who also heads the party, had retirement from politics on his mind while stating that the ongoing assembly elections were…

An estimated 7.70 per cent of the total 2.35 crore electors exercised their franchise till 9 am in the 78 assembly seats in Bihar Elections 2020 where the third and final phase of elections were underway on Saturday. The poll opened at 7 am in these seats spread across 15 districts of north Bihar.

Voter Turnout at 34.8 Percent Till 1 pm | The voter turnout in Bihar assembly elections for the third phase was 34.82 percent till 1 pm. The picture shows a polling booth in Saharsa has been decorated by the district administration with Madhubani artwork, for the third and final phase of Bihar Elections 2020. The district wise polling percentage is as follows:

West Champaran- 35.81
East Champaran- 33.62
Sitamarhi- 31.51%
Madhubani- 34.76%
Supaul- 35.73%
Araria- 32.79%
Kishananj- 34.45%
Purnia- 36.86%
Katihar- 35.34%

These small coalitions have become a refuge of the rebels of the mainline parties who have been denied tickets. Some of these discards are individually strong in their respective constituencies and…

Can AIMIM Influence Seemanchal? | AIMIM can influence about half-a-dozen seats in the Seemanchal region due to the preponderance of the Muslim votes. The AIMIM had entered the Bihar politics for the first time in the 2015 assembly elections. It had fielded six candidates but none of them could win despite getting substantial votes. For the first time, the AIMIM got a foothold in the Kishanganj assembly constituency when its candidate Qamrul Hoda defeated the ruling BJP candidate Sweety Singh and relegated the Congress to the third position in a 2019 by-election. The Bihar chief of the AIMIM, Akhtar-ul-Iman, is contesting from Amour. The party also pins its hopes on the Bahadurganj and Kochadhaman seats.

KEY PARTY | In the third phase of elections, newly formed Jan Adhikar Party will also try making roads into the state assembly. Jan Adhikar Party leader Pappu Yadav, who unsuccessfully tried to find space Rashtriya Lok Samata Party in the NDA first and then in the Grand Alliance, has cobbled up a coalition with the Azad Samaj Party led by Chandrashekhar Azad Ravan, Bahujan Mukti Party, which is active in Bundelkhand and eastern region of Uttar Pradesh, and Socialist Democratic Party of India (SDPI) to contest the Bihar assembly polls. 

The ruling BJP-JD(U) alliance is contesting Bihar Elections together and both parties have also tied up with VIP and HAM respectively by giving them seats from their quota. Polling is underway in 78 assembly constituencies of Bihar in the third and final phase of state elections on Saturday in which 2.35 crore voters are eligible to decide the fate of 1,204 candidates. Voting for the first phase was held on October 28 and for the second phase on November 3. Results will be out on November 10.

As Mithilanchal, Seemanchal and Koshi areas will vote in this phase, the Owaisi factor will come into play. The BJP has been strong in Mithilanchal while Muslim voters decide the result in Seemanchal. As AIMIM is contesting and Muslim League and some other political parties have fielded Muslim candidates, the opposition Grand Alliance may feel the heat, experts say. For this phase of voting, former Congress President Rahul Gandhi, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and many Union Ministers have held election meetings to attract voters while RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav has worked hard for the RJD. AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi has also held several meetings.

As polling was underway in 15 districts of Bihar, a Presiding Officer posted at a polling centre in Muzaffarpur district's Katra Block died due to heart attack. "Presiding Officer Kedar Rai, deployed at voting centre number 190 in Katra, died of a heart attack," an official said. He was employed with the state Irrigation Department. The body has been sent for a post-mortem.

HIGHLIGHT | Polling is underway in 78 assembly segments of Bihar in the third and final phase of state elections on Saturday in which 2.35 crore voters are eligible to decide the fate of 1,204 candidates. Casting of votes began at 7 am at all 33,782 polling stations where as many EVM sets and VVPAT machines have been installed and paramilitary forces deployed to maintain order, officials said. Voting is simultaneously taking place for the Valmiki Nagar Lok Sabha seat in West Champaran district where a by-election has been necessitated by the death of the sitting JD(U) MP Baidyanath Mahto. 

Locals make Temporary Bridge to Reach Polling Station | Locals make a temporary bridge in Muzaffarpur to help voters reach a polling station. "There was no bridge to cross the water stream. We constructed this bridge for easy movement of people. We wanted maximum people to cast their vote,” says a local.

Firing Reported Purnia's Dhamdaha | In Purnia's Dhamdaha, firing was reported from the side of police near booth no 282 in order to control miscreants. A top official in the Election Commission confirmed the firing that was done in order to maintain security in the area.

Locals Clash With BSF Jawan in Purnia's Kasba | In Purnia's Kasba assembly seat there was a clash between the locals and the police. According to reports, people were angry against a BSF jawan who allegedly beat up a person. The people began their outrage which led to a delay of two hours in polling. Senior officers and local representatives then reached the spot and resumed voting in the area. Additional police have been deployed as a precautionary measure.

A notable Congress candidate in this phase is Subhashini Yadav (30), veteran socialist leader Sharad Yadav's daughter who is making her debut from Bihariganj which falls under Madhepura Lok Sabha seat, represented by her father a number of times. Chirag Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party is in the fray on 42 seats, including Govindganj, which it holds and where it is pitted against the BJP, which it claims to be supporting while being opposed to the JD(U).

The ruling Janata Dal (United) categorically dismissed suggestions that Kumar, who also heads the party, had retirement from politics on his mind while stating that the ongoing assembly elections were…

Voter Turnout 19.7% Till 11am | Till 11 am the voter turnout in Bihar Assembly elections 2020 was 19.74 percent. The turnout in different Bihar districts are as follows:
West Champaran- 19.14%
East Champaran- 20.16%
Sitamarhi- 19.71%
Madhubani- 19.71%
Supaul- 21%
Araria- 24.87%
Kishanganj- 19.63%
Purnia- 20.32%