In a landmark moment for Bihar’s democratic process, polling took place on Thursday (6 November) in Bhimbandh, a Naxal-affected area in Munger district, for the first time in two decades.

The village is part of the first phase of the Bihar Assembly elections, in which 121 constituencies across 18 districts went to the polls. The phase will decide the electoral fate of 1,314 candidates, including key political figures such as Tejashwi Yadav and Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary of the BJP.

Bhimbandh had last seen voting in 2005, when the region was under the tight grip of Naxal violence.

In January that year, insurgents allegedly from outlawed CPI (Maoist) detonated a landmine, killing Superintendent of Police Surendra Babu and six other officers returning from an anti-Naxal operati

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