Ballots & Battles: Bihar’s High-Stake First Phase Begins Across 121 Seats

Patna, Nov 2025 : The first phase of voting in Bihar began today, November 6. Polling is being held from 7 am to 6 pm at 45,341 polling stations across 115 assembly constituencies. In six constituencies, voting will take place from 7 am to 5 pm at 2,135 polling stations.

On Wednesday, polling personnel collected EVMs, VVPATs, and other essential materials from dispatch centers. Security forces were deployed to all polling stations by evening. A mock poll was conducted at 5 am today in the presence of booth-level agents, and voting formally began at 7 am.

In this phase, polling is underway in 121 constituencies across 18 districts, including Madhepura, Saharsa, Darbhanga, Muzaffarpur, Gopalganj, Siwan, Saran, Vaishali, Samastipur, Begusarai, Khagaria, Munger, Lakhisarai, Sheikhpura, Nalanda, Patna, Bhojpur, and Buxar.

A total of 2,496 nominations were filed for these seats. After scrutiny, 1,939 nominations were found valid. Later, 70 candidates withdrew. Following the process of verifying and consolidating nominations, the final number of candidates stands at 1,314—including 1,192 men and 122 women. Of the 121 seats, 102 are general seats, while 19 are reserved for Scheduled Castes.

Status of 10 Key Constituencies

Tarapur:
Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary is contesting from here. He is seen in a direct contest against Arun Kumar Sah (RJD). Santosh Kumar Singh (Jan Suraj) and Sukhdev Yadav (Jan Shakti Janata Dal) are also trying to make the contest multi-cornered.

Raghopur:
An RJD bastion and the family seat of Lalu Prasad Yadav, Tejashwi Yadav is contesting from here for the third consecutive time. He defeated BJP’s Satish Kumar in 2015 and 2020. This time too, Satish Kumar is challenging him from the NDA, while Chanchal Kumar (Jan Suraj) is also in the race.

Mokama:
This seat is in the spotlight due to the murder of Jan Suraj supporter Dularchand Yadav and the arrest of JDU candidate Anant Singh. The contest is between two strong local players—Anant Singh on one side, and Veena Devi, wife of Surajbhan Singh, contesting on an RJD ticket, on the other.

Alinagar:
The BJP has fielded popular folk singer Maithili Thakur. This is her electoral debut. She is likely to face a strong challenge from Vinod Mishra of the RJD. The BJP hopes to convert Thakur’s popularity among youth and cultural groups into votes.

Chhapra: From the Chhapra seat, famous Bhojpuri singer Khesari Lal Yadav is contesting the election on an RJD ticket. Here, his contest is considered to be with BJP’s Chhoti Kumari. But Independent Rakhi Gupta is also making full effort to make the contest triangular.

Lakhisarai: Bihar’s second Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Kumar Sinha has been MLA from Lakhisarai continuously since 2010. In 2020, he defeated Congress’ Amaresh Kumar. This time too Amaresh Kumar is in the field in front of Vijay Sinha.

Mahua: After being removed from the party and family by Lalu Yadav, Tej Pratap Yadav is contesting the election from Mahua. His contest is considered to be with RJD MLA Mukesh Roshan. From the NDA side, LJP’s Sanjay Kumar Singh has made the contest triangular.

Begusarai: This seat, once considered a stronghold of the Left, was won by the BJP in 2020. This time, BJP’s Kundan Kumar is contesting against Congress’ Amita Bhushan. After the Mandal era, the political arithmetic here has changed.

Bankipur: This is an urban seat of Patna, where BJP’s Nitin Naveen has been winning continuously. This time too the party has expressed trust in him. To challenge him, RJD has fielded Rekha Gupta.

Darbhanga Urban: From this major seat of Mithilanchal, BJP’s Revenue Minister Sanjay Sarawgi is in the field. To challenge him, Jan Suraj has made former IPS RK Mishra and Mukesh Sahni’s party has made Umesh Sahni candidates.

How many candidates from which party in the first phase

In the first phase, from the NDA side, JDU has 57 candidates, BJP has 48, Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) has 13 and Rashtriya Lok Morcha has 2 candidates.
From the Mahagathbandhan side, RJD has 71, Congress has 24 and Left parties have 14 candidates in the electoral field.

Apart from these, Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) and Communist Party of India (CPI) are contesting on six seats each, CPM on three seats, and Indian Inclusive Party (IIP) on two seats.
In this phase, Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraj Party’s 118 candidates are also trying their luck.

Voting on 121 seats of 18 districts in the first phase

(List of all constituencies translated exactly as provided, keeping Hindi names unchanged)

Patna: Mokama, Barh, Bakhtiyarpur, Digha, Bankipur, Kumhrar, Patna City, Fatuha, Danapur, Maner, Phulwari Sharif (SC), Masaurhi (SC), Paliganj, Bikram

Bhojpur: Ara, Agiaon, Shahpur, Barhara, Jagdishpur, Tarari, Sandesh

Buxar: Buxar, Dumraon, Rajpur, Brahmpur

Gopalganj: Baikunthpur, Barauli, Gopalganj, Kuchaykot, Bhore (SC), Hathua

Siwan: Ziradei, Darauli (SC), Raghunathpur, Daraunda, Barharia, Goreyakothi, Maharajganj, Siwan

Saran: Ekma, Manjhi, Baniapur, Taraiya, Marhaura, Chhapra, Garkha (SC), Amnour, Parsa, Sonepur

Muzaffarpur: Gaighat, Aurai, Minapur, Bochahan (SC), Sakra (SC), Kudhni, Muzaffarpur, Kanti, Baruraj, Paroo, Sahebganj

Vaishali: Rajapakar, Mahua, Mahnar, Raghopur, Vaishali, Lalganj, Hajipur, Patepur (SC)

Darbhanga: Kusheshwar Asthan (SC), Gaura Bauram, Benipur, Alinagar, Darbhanga Rural, Darbhanga, Hayaghat, Bahadurpur, Keoti, Jale

Samastipur: Kalyanpur (SC), Warisnagar, Samastipur, Ujiarpur, Morwa, Sarairanjan, Mohiuddinagar, Vibhutipur, Rosda (SC), Hasanpur

Madhepura: Alamnagar (SC), Bihariganj, Madhepura, Singheshwar (SC)

Saharsa: Simri Bakhtiyarpur, Sonbarsa (SC), Mahishi, Saharsa

Khagaria: Parbatta, Beldaur, Alauli (SC), Khagaria

Begusarai: Cheria Bariarpur, Bachhwara, Teghra, Matihani, Sahebpur Kamal, Begusarai, Bakhri (SC)

Munger: Jamalpur, Munger, Tarapur

Lakhisarai: Lakhisarai, Suryagarha

Sheikhpura: Barbigha, Sheikhpura

Nalanda: Harnaut, Asthawan, Islampur, Hilsa, Nalanda, Rajgir, Biharsharif

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Voting Timings

According to the Election Commission, in five Assembly constituencies—Simri Bakhtiyarpur and Mahishi of Saharsa, and Tarapur, Munger, and Jamalpur of Munger district—all booths will have voting only from 7 AM to 5 PM.

In Suryagarha constituency, only booths numbered 168, 169, 228, 229, 231 to 234, 240, 242, 248, 249, 260 to 273, 362 to 372, 380, 385, 407, 408, 416, 417, 422, 425 to 436 will have voting till 5 PM.
All other booths will have voting from 7 AM to 6 PM.

Paid Holiday on Poll Day

According to the Election Commission, for the first phase of the Bihar Assembly election, November 6 will be a paid holiday. All persons employed in any business, trade, industrial undertaking, or any other establishment who have the right to vote must be granted paid leave.

12 Documents Valid for Voting

The Election Commission has said that 12 documents are valid for voting:

Aadhaar card, MGNREGA job card, bank/post office photo passbook, Ayushman Bharat card, driving licence, PAN card, NPR smart card, Indian passport, pension document with photo, government service ID with photo, MP/MLA/MLC identity card, UDID card.

Ban on Opinion Polls and Exit Polls

Opinion polls or surveys are banned 48 hours before the end of voting.
Exit polls are banned from 7 AM on November 6 to 6:30 PM on November 11.

6,736 Voters Above 100 Years of Age

In the first phase, a total of 3,75,13,302 voters will vote:
1,98,35,325 men, 1,76,77,219 women, and 758 third-gender voters.
There are also 1,00,904 service voters.

Special facilities have been arranged for disabled and elderly voters:
3,22,077 disabled voters and 5,31,423 senior citizens, including 6,736 voters above 100 years of age.

New Voters

7,37,765 voters will be voting for the first time.
1,96,27,330 voters aged 18–40 are expected to play an important role.

Security Arrangements

Strict and “impenetrable” security arrangements have been made. Central paramilitary forces are deployed at all booths, with extra monitoring in Naxal-affected and sensitive areas.

The Final Appeal

After campaigning ends, candidates now focus on direct personal contact with voters.
On November 6, once voting takes place, the fate of candidates on all 121 seats will be locked in the EVMs.