The first phase of Bihar’s Assembly elections on Thursday witnessed a heartening democratic statistic — an impressive voter turnout across 121 constituencies. Provisional estimates have placed the figure at 64.69%, which may rise further as complete data emerge from all polling booths. These same constituencies have consistently recorded turnouts between 55.4% and 55.85% across the last four polls — Assembly and general elections. The nearly nine percentage point jump signals a reinvigorated engagement with the electoral process. The numbers reveal a more compelling story. Despite the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process reducing registered electors from 3.88 crore in the 2024 general election to 3.73 crore now, the actual voter count surged from 2.15 crore to a provisional 2.42 crore.

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