Bihar Phase 3 Polling LIVE Updates: Voting Underway in 78 Assembly Seats, Modi Urges People to Vote in Large Numbers

New Delhi: Bihar is undergoing third and final phase of polling in 78 assembly seats amid tight security and COVID-19 protocol in place today. While the stakes run quite high for the ruling NDA as they fight anti-incumbency, voters will also decide political future of several veteran leaders of the Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance).

The last leg of polling will see more than 2.35 crore voters exercising their franchise in 78 assembly constituencies in 15 districts for which 33,782 polling booths have been set up.

Prominent candidates in this phase include Vijay Kumar Chaudhary of JD (U),Speaker of the outgoing assembly, famed for his ability to win over hostile opponents with a disarming smile, who seeks to do a hat-trick in Sarairanjan.

JD(U) ministers in the fray are Bijendra Prasad Yadav (Supaul), Narendra Narayan Yadav (Alamnagar), Maheshwar Hazari (Kalyanpur), Ramesh Rishideo (Singheshwar), Khurshid alias Firoz Ahmed (Sikta), Lakshmeshwar Roy (Laukaha), Bima Bharti (Rupauli) and Madan Sahni (Bahadurpur).

Four ministers are in the fray from the BJP Pramod Kumar (Motihari), Suresh Sharma (Muzaffarpur), Binod Narayan Jha (Benipatti) and Krishnakumar Rishi (Banmankhi).

Another keenly watched candidate is Subhashini Yadav from Bihariganj whose father, veteran socialist leader and former Union minister Sharad Yadav, had been a multiple-term MP from Madhepura under which the assembly segment falls. She is contesting on a Congress ticket.

In Bihar, elections are being held in three phases for 243 assembly seats. Polling for the first phase was held on 71 seats on October 28 and 94 seats on November 3. Counting of votes will be held on November 10.