Polling for the 50 Assembly seats in Bihar in the crucial third phase election began at 7:00 a.m. on Wednesday.
A total of 53.32 per cent polling was recorded till 5 p.m. across all six districts — Bhojpur, Buxar, Nalanda, Patna, Saran and Vaishali — that went to polls in this crucial phase.
Prominent candidates included two sons of Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad, contesting from Raghopur and Mahua constituencies of Vaishali district.
As it happened:
Picture courtesy Election Commission. 3.30 pm: Conjoined twins Saba and Farah cast their vote on a single voter ID in Patna. >Read more.
2.45 pm: About 34.5 per cent voter turnout recorded till 2 pm.
2.30 pm: Voter turnout till 2 PM - Buxar 45.68%; Bhojpur 42.6%; Saran 43.16%; Patna 34.34%; Nalanda 38.54%; Vaishali 42.22% - Election Commission
1:42 pm: About 27 per cent voter turnout was recorded till noon in the 50 Assembly constituencies spread over six districts.
12:07 pm: Rajiv Pratap Rudy casts his vote in Chhapra.
11:48 am: 20.72% polling recorded till 11 a.m.
11:43 am : 22.94% voter turnout in Saran district till now.
11:08 am: Nitish Kumar appeals to the voters to exercise their franchise.
11:05 am: 14.09% polling recorded till 10 a.m.
10:50 am: Nitish Kumar to address media persons soon near his house in Bakhtiyarpur.
10:47 am: A monkey bit an old lady voter at Model polling booth No: 2 in Bakhtiyarpur. She cast her vote after receiving first-aid.
10:15 am: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar casts his vote in Patna.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar casts his vote at the Model polling booth No. 2 in Bakhtiyarpur. 9:55 am: 12% voting recorded till 9 a.m.
9:50 am: Talking to media persons, Lalu Prasad said the BJP and Prime Minister Modi have become nervous of the people’s support for grand alliance in polls. "Modi has no idea of Constitution and he is misleading people of Bihar," he said.
9:40 am: RJD chief Lalu Prasad, his wife Rabri Devi and daughter Misa Bharti cast their vote at Patna’s Veterinary College ground booth.
8:50 am: 5.59% voting recorded in the first hour.
8:35 am: Lalu Prasad's son Tejaswi Yadav casts his vote in Patna.
8:22 am: Senior BJP leader Sushil Modi casts his vote in Rajendra Nagar, Patna.
8:04 am: Political observers say that of the 50 seats, the BJP has to register win in 34-36 seats to counter the grand alliance in the remaining two phases, scheduled for November 1 and 5.
7:32 am: All the 716 polling stations are being manned by the Central paramilitary forces and equipped with live webcams.
7:30 am: Today, 1.45 crore voters would decide the fate of 808 candidates, 71 of whom are women.
7:20 am: Voters being to queue up outside polling booths to cast their votes.
