PM Modi Confident of NDA Victory as Bihar Votes

• 27.65% voter turnout recorded till 11 a.m. in Bihar’s first phase of polling.
• PM Modi calls it a “festival of democracy,” urges voters to participate enthusiastically.
• NDA eyes another term under Nitish Kumar; Tejashwi Yadav leads youth-driven Grand Alliance campaign.
• Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj Party emerges as possible game changer.

GG News Bureau
Patna/New Delhi, 6th Nov: The high-stakes battle for Bihar has kicked off, with voting underway in 121 of the state’s 243 assembly constituencies during the first phase of the two-phase election. The ruling NDA, led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, is seeking another term amid stiff competition from the Grand Alliance led by the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).

According to the Election Commission, a voter turnout of 27.65% was recorded till 11 a.m. on Wednesday. Top leaders including Nitish Kumar, Deputy CM Samrat Choudhary, RJD patriarch Lalu Prasad Yadav, Tejashwi Yadav, and LJP’s Chirag Paswan cast their votes early in the day.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar urged citizens to “vote and inspire others to vote,” while Lalu Yadav posted a symbolic message on social media, stating, “The roti should keep turning on the tawa, otherwise it will burn. Twenty years is too long! Now, for the youth government and the new Bihar, a Tejashwi government is extremely necessary.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi appealed to the electorate to participate in the “festival of democracy” with full enthusiasm, expressing confidence that the NDA would secure an “unprecedented majority.”

The BJP’s campaign, powered by PM Modi and top Union ministers, dominated the election trail. Despite speculation over Nitish Kumar’s leadership, Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP President JP Nadda reaffirmed their support for the six-time Chief Minister.

The Grand Alliance, driven by Tejashwi Yadav’s promise of one government job per household, has tapped into youth aspirations and unemployment issues. Meanwhile, the Congress campaign appeared subdued, with Rahul Gandhi’s absence noted after an initial joint march with Tejashwi.

Adding intrigue to the contest, election strategist Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj Party is contesting all 243 seats independently, focusing on corruption and declining public services. Kishor claimed his party would either “get fewer than 10 or more than 150 seats.”

The polls are centered around bread-and-butter issues — unemployment, migration, corruption, and governance. The NDA has promised to create 1 crore jobs and empower 1 crore women lakhpatis through self-employment initiatives.

Most constituencies voting today are spread across Central Bihar, a region where the Grand Alliance had performed strongly in 2020, winning 63 of 121 seats. The NDA, with 55 seats then, hopes to reverse the trend as polling continues in the next phase.