An estimated 7.7% voter turnout was recorded till 9 am in the 78 assembly seats of Bihar 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.
According to the Election Commission, the polling percentage at 9 am was 7.69.
The maximum 10.67% turnout till 9 am was recorded in the Araria district, and the minimum (5.36%) in the Katihar district.
The turnout in the first phase till 9 am was 6.74%, while in the second phase it was 8.05%.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi appealed the voters in Bihar to “set a new record”.
LJP president Chirag Paswan said that the third phase will confirm Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will never become the chief minister again.
“I have worked on the ground, working hard for the party all alone. One thing is clear, both the phases have confirmed this thing and the third phase will put a final stamp on it, that Nitish Kumar will never become the Chief Minister again,” he was quoted as saying by ANI. He added that the next government that will be formed will focus on development.
Prominent candidates in this phase include Vijay Kumar Chaudhary of JD(U), Speaker of the outgoing assembly.
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).
Counting of votes is scheduled on November 10.
(With PTI inputs)
