Patna, Oct 23 — Polling for eight Bihar Legislative Council seats concluded at 4 pm on Friday, with the four teachers’ constituencies recording a higher voter turnout than the four graduate constituencies.
According to Election Commission data, turnout stood at 43.87% in the graduate constituencies and 74.55% in the teachers’ constituencies as of 4 pm.
Polling began at 8 am and continued until 4 pm. A total of 150 candidates were in the fray for the eight seats, with the counting of votes scheduled for October 27.
Among the graduate constituencies, Patna recorded a turnout of 36.19%, Tirhut 42.15%, Darbhanga 42% and Kosi 52.51%.
Kosi registered the highest turnout among the four graduate constituencies, while Patna recorded the lowest.
In the teachers’ constituencies, Saran recorded the highest turnout at 87.16%, followed by Darbhanga at 79%, Tirhut at 78.10% and Patna at 56.89%.
The overall turnout in the teachers’ constituencies was substantially higher than in the graduate constituencies.
Meanwhile, RJD leader and Leader of the Opposition Tejashwi Yadav expressed confidence that his party would win all eight seats, claiming that its candidates were receiving positive feedback from voters.
He also alleged electoral irregularities, including vote theft, the presence of fake voters and fraudulent voting.
Tejashwi further accused the administration of using money and government machinery to influence the election.
These allegations were not independently verified.
On the other hand, incumbent BJP MLC and candidate Naval Kishore Yadav expressed confidence in retaining the Patna Teachers’ Constituency seat.
After casting his vote at DAV School in Rajvanshi Nagar, Patna, he predicted a decisive victory, using the cricketing metaphor of hitting a six.
Naval Kishore Yadav said teachers in Patna had consistently supported him and pointed out that he had won the seat five consecutive times over a period of 30 years.
He expressed confidence that the teaching community would back him again.
The BJP candidate further claimed that his opponents would lose their security deposits and that his victory margin would be larger than in previous elections.
He alleged that his opponents were making baseless accusations because of the support he enjoyed among teachers.
With polling now over, attention has shifted to the counting of votes on October 27, when the electoral fortunes of all 150 candidates will be decided.