The Election Commission on Tuesday said that the voter turnout in the Bihar Assembly elections was a record 66.9%. This was the highest polling percentage in the state since 1951.

While the turnout in the first phase on November 6 for 121 of the 243 constituencies was 65%, the provisional polling percentage in the second phase on Tuesday was 68.7%, the poll panel said.

The overall turnout among women was 71.6% and 62.8% for men, it added.

The votes will be counted on Friday.

A turnout of 57.2% was recorded in the 2020 Assembly polls and was 56.9% in 2015.

On Tuesday, voting was held at 45,399 stations amid heavy security following a blast near Delhi’s Red Fort metro station on Monday, which left at least eight persons dead. The police have filed a case under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.

The main contest in Bihar is between the ruling National Democratic Alliance and the Opposition Mahagathbandhan alliance.

The NDA comprises Chief Minister Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal (United), the Bharatiya Janata Party, Union minister Chirag Paswan’s faction of the Lok Janshakti Party, the Rashtriya Lok Morcha and the Hindustani Awam Morcha.

The Mahagathbandhan comprises the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Congress, the Vikassheel Insaan Party and three Left parties – the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation, the Communist Party of India and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) – along with the newly-formed Indian Inclusive Party.

Former political strategist Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj, which is not part of the two main alliances, is making its electoral debut.

The Opposition has projected RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav as its chief ministerial candidate. The NDA has said that it contested the polls under Kumar’s leadership.

Kumar has been the chief minister for about 20 years, except for a nine-month period between 2014 and 2015.

On Tuesday, several exit polls projected that the NDA will defeat the Mahagathbandhan. The exit polls were released after polling in the final phase ended.

A party or a coalition requires 122 seats in the 234-member Assembly to form the government.

In the 2020 Assembly polls, the NDA and the Mahagathbandhan ended up with an identical vote share at 37.2%. However, the NDA returned to power in Bihar with a slender majority, winning 125 seats in the Assembly. The Opposition bagged 110 seats.

The RJD had emerged as the single-largest party with 75 seats but still lost the election.