Bihar Election 2025 Phase 1: 13.13% Voter Turnout by 9 AM, Triangular Contest Between NDA, Mahagathbandhan, and Jan Suraaj

Voting for the first phase of the Bihar Assembly Election 2025 began at 7 AM on Thursday. By 9 AM, the state recorded an overall voter turnout of 13.13%, according to the Election Commission.

Among districts, Saharsa led with 15.27% turnout, while Lakhisarai reported the lowest at 7%. In Patna, voter participation remained relatively low at 11.22%.

A total of 121 out of 243 assembly constituencies are voting today across 18 districts of Bihar in a three-way political battle between the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), the Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance), and Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj Party.

Key Districts Voting Today

Voting is being held across 18 districts, including:
Patna, Darbhanga, Saharsa, Madhepura, Muzaffarpur, Gopalganj, Siwan, Saran, Vaishali, Samastipur, Begusarai, Lakhisarai, Munger, Sheikhpura, Nalanda, Buxar, and Bhojpur.

Around 3.75 crore eligible voters are set to decide the fate of 1,314 candidates contesting in this phase. Of these, 10.72 lakh are first-time voters, while 7,37,765 are aged 18–19 years. Additionally, 6,736 voters are aged above 100 years.

Major Alliances and Key Candidates

1. National Democratic Alliance (NDA)
Comprising Janata Dal (United), Bharatiya Janata Party, Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), Hindustani Awam Morcha, and Rashtriya Lok Morcha, the NDA currently governs Bihar.
Key candidate: Deputy CM Samrat Choudhary (BJP) from Tarapur.

2. Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance)
This opposition bloc includes Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Indian National Congress, CPI, CPI(ML), CPI(M), and Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP).
Key candidates: Tejashwi Yadav (RJD) from Raghopur, Tej Pratap Yadav from Mahua.

3. Jan Suraaj Party
Making its political debut, Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj Party has fielded candidates in all 243 constituencies.
This marks a historic entry for Kishor’s reform-focused movement.