‘NDA has gained a massive lead’: PM Modi reacts to record turnout of 64.66% in phase 1 of Bihar polls

PM Modi

Reacting to the record turnout of voters in phase 1 of Bihar assembly polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said with the promising figures ( highest turnout) the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has gained a massive lead.

“In the first phase of voting in the Bihar Assembly elections, the NDA has gained a massive lead. Along with this, its wave is visible everywhere in the second phase as well,” PM Modi Modi posted on X.

“Amid this enthusiasm of the public and the masses, tomorrow afternoon around 1:45 PM, I will have the good fortune to communicate with my family members in Aurangabad, and around 3:30 PM in Bhabhua,” he added.

Before this, the highest figure for an Assembly election in Bihar was 62.57 per cent in 2000. For Lok Sabha elections, the state's highest voter turnout was 64.6 per cent in 1998. In a statement, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar thanked voters for coming out in such large numbers and poll workers for their dedication.

The increased voter turnout is all the more significant because the special intensive revision of the state's voter lists - a contentious exercise the opposition called an attempt to disenfranchise voters from poor and marginalised groups who, they claimed, traditionally vote for them - deleted 47 lakh names.

A total of 3.75 crore voters were eligible to exercise their franchise in this phase, to decide the electoral fate of 1,314 candidates,” Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Vinod Singh Gunjiyal said. Of the 1,314 candidates contesting the assembly polls, 1192 were men, while 122 were women.

Stakes remain high for both the ruling NDA and the opposition INDIA bloc in the first phase of the assembly elections, with several key leaders, including RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav, Deputy Chief Ministers Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha, and several ministers, in the fray.

Earlier today, when voting was on, in Lakhisarai, Bihar deputy chief minister Vijay Kumar Sinha alleged that his convoy was attacked by "goons" of the RJD, the main opposition party. He said that he was in the area after receiving complaints of voters being "terrorised".