Bihar By-Poll Sees 47.5% Voter Turnout in Tirhut Constituency | Patna News – Times of India
Patna: The bypoll to Bihar Legislative Council from Tirhut graduates’ constituency on Thursday passed off peacefully with 47.5% voters’ turnout. No poll-related complaints were reported from any part of the constituency spread over four districts — Sitamarhi, Sheohar, Muzaffarpur and Vaishali.
The polling kicked off to a very slow start, with only 4.96% voters turning up at 197 polling booths in the first two hours. It reached 16.95% by 12pm and 27.45% by 2pm, before gaining momentum.
“The polling passed off peacefully, and the voter turnout was recorded at 47.5%, an increase of 2.3% as compared to the 2020 voting,” a press statement issued by Election Commission (EC) said.
An EC official said they received no complaints throughout the day from anywhere. The counting of votes will be done on December 9.
The constituency has a total of 1,54,828 voters, including 47,419 women and eight third-gender people.
The Tirhut bypoll saw a triangular contest between Abhishek Jha of the ruling JD(U), Gopi Kishan of RJD, and Jan Suraaj’s Vinayak Gautam, even as there were a total of 18 candidates in the fray.
The bypoll to this seat was necessitated after it fell vacant following the election of JD(U) MLC Devesh Chandra Thakur to the Lok Sabha from Sitamarhi this year.
Tirhut has historically favoured the NDA, with all seven MPs from the region belonging to the governing alliance. Thakur, the previous MLC, served for over two decades and worked closely with chief minister Nitish Kumar, bolstering the party’s influence.
Prashant Kishor’s entry into the fray has added intrigue to the contest, potentially splitting the vote base of traditional parties, analysts say.
The polling kicked off to a very slow start, with only 4.96% voters turning up at 197 polling booths in the first two hours. It reached 16.95% by 12pm and 27.45% by 2pm, before gaining momentum.
“The polling passed off peacefully, and the voter turnout was recorded at 47.5%, an increase of 2.3% as compared to the 2020 voting,” a press statement issued by Election Commission (EC) said.
An EC official said they received no complaints throughout the day from anywhere. The counting of votes will be done on December 9.
The constituency has a total of 1,54,828 voters, including 47,419 women and eight third-gender people.
The Tirhut bypoll saw a triangular contest between Abhishek Jha of the ruling JD(U), Gopi Kishan of RJD, and Jan Suraaj’s Vinayak Gautam, even as there were a total of 18 candidates in the fray.
The bypoll to this seat was necessitated after it fell vacant following the election of JD(U) MLC Devesh Chandra Thakur to the Lok Sabha from Sitamarhi this year.
Tirhut has historically favoured the NDA, with all seven MPs from the region belonging to the governing alliance. Thakur, the previous MLC, served for over two decades and worked closely with chief minister Nitish Kumar, bolstering the party’s influence.
Prashant Kishor’s entry into the fray has added intrigue to the contest, potentially splitting the vote base of traditional parties, analysts say.
