In Bihar’s highest-ever voter turnout, nearly 65% of 3.75 crore electors cast their ballots on Thursday across 121 constituencies in the first phase of the assembly elections — a high-stakes contest seen as a litmus test of the ruling NDA’s popularity.

In a statement, the Election Commission said the first phase of the assembly elections concluded peacefully "in a festive mood with the highest-ever voter turnout of 64.66 percent in the history of Bihar."

Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Vinod Singh Gunjiyal said women came out in large numbers to cast their votes, with "a lot of enthusiasm."

The NDA, in power for much of the past two decades, is leaning on its image of “sushasan” or good governance, contrasting it with what it calls the “jungle raj” of the RJD-Congress years. The oppos

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