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Patna . The fate of 1314 candidates contesting on 121 seats in 18 districts of the first phase of Bihar Assembly elections has been sealed in EVMs. There was tremendous enthusiasm among the voters in the first phase on Thursday. 64.69 percent people exercised their franchise on 121 seats in the first phase, which is about eight and a half percent more voting than the last election.

According to the Election Commission, there was 64.69 percent voting on 121 seats in the first phase, whereas in the 2020 assembly elections, the voting on these seats was around 56 percent. If seen from this perspective, the voting pattern says that there has been about eight and a half percent more voting than the last election. The way voting has increased in the elections this time, the heartbeats of political parties have increased. This time’s voting is being considered unprecedented in the politics of Bihar, because it is the highest voting in the history of the state. In the year 2020, 56.1 percent voting took place in the first phase, but at that time elections were held on 71 seats in the first phase, whereas this time elections were held on 121 seats.

In the first phase in 2020, there were 3.70 crore total voters, out of which 2.06 crore voted. But this time there are a total of 3.75 crore voters in the first phase, which is 5 lakh more than last time. This time, 64.69 percent voting took place in the first phase. Now political parties are saying that this increased voting pattern is favorable from their own point of view. Earlier in Bihar, the highest voter turnout was 62.57 percent in the 2000 assembly elections from 1951-52 to 2020, whereas in the Lok Sabha elections held from 1951-52 to 2024, the highest voter turnout in Bihar was 64.60 percent in 1998, which this time has been surpassed by the voting on the first phase of seats in Bihar.

Increase and decrease in voting percentage also has a direct impact on the election results. In the electoral history of India, it is generally believed that when voting is high, the public wants change (anti-incumbency). But this does not happen every time. It has been seen in elections that many times more voting also means support for the government (pro-incumbency). It is clear that it is too early to say in which direction this activism of voters will go. Elections have been held for the first time after SIR. In SIR, many votes have been deleted and some new votes have been added. In this way, removal of fake voters is also being considered as the reason for increase in voting, but whenever voting has increased in Bihar, there is a change in power.

Government changed due to increase in voting in Bihar
If we talk about assembly elections in Bihar, only three times from 1951-52 to 2020, more than 60 percent voting took place. 62.04 votes were cast in 1990, 61.79 in 1995 and the highest record before now was 62.57 votes in 2020, but this time all the records have been broken. Currently, there has been 64.69 percent voting in the first phase. If voting happens like this in the next phase, it will be a record in itself in the history of Bihar. The lowest voter turnout in Bihar till date was 42.60 percent in 1951-52 only.

How does the government change?
For the first time in Bihar, voting increased in the 1967 elections and the government changed. Voting was 51.5 percent in 1967 compared to 44.5 percent in 1962. In this way, there was 7 percent more voting and the government was lost from the hands of Congress. For the first time in Bihar, non-Congress parties together formed the government. After 1967, the same pattern was seen in 1980 also. In the year 1980, there was 57.3 percent voting whereas in the 1977 elections, there was 50.5 percent voting. In this way, 6.8 percent more voting took place, as a result of which the government changed. Janata Party had to face defeat and Congress made a comeback. After 1980, there was a tremendous increase in voting in the 1990 assembly elections. In 1990, there was 62 percent voting whereas before that in 1985, there was 56.3 percent voting. In this way, an increase of 5.8 percent more voting had brought about the change of power in Bihar.

Congress was forced out of power and Janata Dal formed the government. After this, the change of power in Bihar took place in November 2005, when voting was reduced by 16 percent. This time in the first phase of Bihar elections, voting has increased by eight and a half percent, the profit and loss of which is being assessed.