Overview
- Over 3.75 crore electors are voting at 45,341 polling stations to decide the fate of 1,314 candidates across 18 districts.
- Key battles feature RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav in Raghopur and deputy CMs Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha, with celebrity entrants such as Maithili Thakur and Khesari Lal Yadav also in the fray.
- Law-and-order is under scrutiny in Mokama, where JD(U) candidate Anant Singh is jailed in a case linked to the killing of a Jan Suraaj supporter.
- Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj is contesting all 243 seats in its debut, introducing a third-front variable for both the NDA and the Mahagathbandhan.
- Phase 2 is scheduled for November 11 with counting on November 14, and an ADR analysis of Phase 2 finds 32% of candidates declare criminal cases and 26% face serious charges across 73 flagged constituencies.