This edition of To The Point focusses on the first phase of the Bihar Assembly elections, where a record voter turnout of over 60% has intensified the battle between the NDA and the Mahagathbandhan.
01:11Hello and welcome here watching To The Point.
01:18I'm Preeti Chaudhary.
01:19It is curtains down on the first phase of polling.
01:22The fate of 121 seats has been sealed.
01:273 crores 34 lakh voters have cast their ballot.
01:32They were on the voters' roll.
01:34And now we'll only know the fate of these 121 seats come the 14th of this month.
01:41When that last vote is counted.
01:43On the other hand, the fate of Tejasvi Yadav.
01:46The face of the Mahagat Bandhan.
01:48Also sealed today from the seat of Raghapur.
01:51You have two deputy chief ministers.
01:53They were also in the fray.
01:54And 13 sitting cabinet ministers.
01:56Where the government of Bihar is concerned.
01:59Well, now the focus shifts to the second phase of elections of 122 seats.
02:04But, viewers.
02:06The biggest talking point right now.
02:08Which has left many people wondering on what this election really means.
02:12For the likes of us who were on the ground.
02:14Most of us picked up one refrain.
02:16That this was a silent election.
02:18But the voters have spoken so loudly.
02:22When it comes down to the ballot.
02:24Because the kind of voting that has been recorded in Bihar.
02:28Has been unprecedented in the first phase.
02:30And that brings me to our first set of news break this evening.
02:34Alright.
02:35So the news that we are breaking right now.
02:37Is that Bihar has seen the highest voter turnout in the last 20 years.
02:42I'm going to take you through.
02:44In 2010.
02:45Where the first phase of elections was concerned.
02:47The voter turnout was 52.1 percent.
02:502015.
02:5155.9 percent.
02:532020.
02:5456.1 percent.
02:56And 2025.
02:57It is 60.1 percent.
03:00Till now.
03:01This, of course, is phase one.
03:03What I've given you for other years.
03:05Has been the cumulative voting turnout.
03:09In 2010.
03:112015.
03:12And 22.
03:13The first phase has surpassed the cumulative voting percentage.
03:16Of 2010.
03:182015.
03:19And 2020.
03:21And the 60.1 percent.
03:23That has been recorded.
03:24Till.
03:265 p.m.
03:27Viewers.
03:28Right now.
03:29In all probability.
03:30Will be bumped up.
03:31With a couple of more.
03:32You know.
03:33Notches.
03:34As there will be people in the voting line.
03:37And we've seen in the recent past.
03:38That the whole aggregate.
03:40Does go up.
03:41By a couple of percentage.
03:43After it's been calculated.
03:45So this is unprecedented.
03:47What most of us thought.
03:48Was a silent election.
03:49And was a silent election.
03:50Has spoken very loudly.
03:52At the hustings.
03:53At the box office.
03:54So.
03:55The voters.
03:56Who we thought.
03:57Were not that enthused.
03:58There was no wave.
03:59Clearly were enthused.
04:00Because they've gone out.
04:01In large numbers.
04:02And they have voted.
04:03Despite of the fact.
04:04That there has been a reduction.
04:06On 40 to 45 lakh votes.
04:08To the SIR.
04:09So.
04:10The electorate.
04:11Right now.
04:12Stands.
04:13Of entire.
04:14Bihar.
04:15It's 7 crore.
04:1642 lakhs.
04:17It was about 45 lakhs.
04:18More.
04:19Recorded.
04:20In the Lok Sabha.
04:21In January.
04:22So.
04:23Despite of.
04:24The voter numbers.
04:25Coming down.
04:26What could.
04:27Be the reason.
04:28For this massive.
04:29Turn out.
04:30That remains.
04:31To be dissected.
04:32Many pollsters.
04:33Right now.
04:34Are silent.
04:35Is the deduction.
04:36In terms of.
04:37How much the women.
04:38Have voted.
04:39And that.
04:40Could give a larger.
04:41Picture.
04:42On which way.
04:43Or what is the trend.
04:44And the.
04:45Scales are tipping.
04:46In whose favor.
04:47Right now.
04:48So there's a.
04:49You know.
04:50And that.
04:51Would be.
04:52Microdata.
04:53In terms of.
04:54How much the women.
04:55Have voted.
04:56Constituencies.
04:57Of areas.
04:58Of districts.
04:59Of region.
05:00And.
05:01What's really interesting.
05:02Is viewers.
05:03While.
05:04A Bego Sarai.
05:05Has recorded.
05:06Bumper.
05:07Voting.
05:08Something like.
05:09A Darbhanga.
05:10Has not.
05:11Recorded.
05:12Such.
05:13A sharp.
05:14Uptick.
05:15In the voter percentage.
05:16They've.
05:17You know.
05:18Every constituency.
05:19Every region.
05:20Has voted.
05:21Very differently.
05:22And there are.
05:23Multiple layers.
05:24Political.
05:25Journalist.
05:26Peli.
05:27Political.
05:28Analyst.
05:29Would agree.
05:30That this has been.
05:31One of the most.
05:32Complex.
05:33Elections.
05:34In terms of.
05:35The factors.
05:36In terms of.
05:37New players.
05:38In terms of.
05:39The women.
05:40Youth vote.
05:41There's so much.
05:42To it.
05:43That.
05:44You know.
05:45One can.
05:46Speak off.
05:47I want to.
05:48Cut across.
05:49To our.
05:50Two.
05:51Reporters.
05:53Who've been.
05:54Reporting on.
05:55This election.
05:56Moshmi.
05:57Who's travelled.
05:58The length.
05:59And the breadth.
06:00Of Bihar.
06:01First.
06:02On.
06:03SIR.
06:04And now.
06:05Where.
06:06Voting.
06:07In Bihar.
06:08On.
06:09The numbers.
06:10That have been.
06:11Recorded.
06:12Rohit.
06:13Bumper.
06:14Voting.
06:15In Bihar.
06:16What most.
06:17Of us.
06:18Thought.
06:19Election.
06:20Silent.
06:21Are.
06:22Valids.
06:23Despite.
06:24Of.
06:25A.
06:26Reduction.
06:27In votes.
06:28By 40 to 45.
06:30Lakhs.
06:31Poots.
06:32The SIR.
06:33What do you make of it?
06:34Well, pretty there are two aspects to it.
06:36One is that if the voting percentage has increased and if the male voters that the they
06:39percentage is more than the female voters then there could be an indication that the voting has taken place for a change.
06:48As far as the other side is concerned, the other aspect is concerned, if the female voting percentage is higher, I'm talking about Bihar specifically, than the male, then it gives you a completely different picture as far as Bihar is concerned in the last 20 years.
07:02And why? Because women in Bihar have turned out to be a core vote bank of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, specifically, if not BJP, because of the developmental works, a lot of schemes that have been launched by Nitish Kumar in the last 20 years.
07:19And the most recent, the disbursement of 10,000 rupees cash transfer into the bank account of almost 1.5 crore women, just ahead of elections.
07:31All these things, if you keep in mind, then obviously, one has to say that the number of women who were standing in long queues today since morning, if it is any indication, then it could, it could, I am saying, mean that it could be good news.
07:49For the NDA, because women voting out and coming out and voting in large numbers.
07:54Rohit, fair point, I want to bring in Moshri, but let me ask you this question first.
07:58We are talking about the women vote, but certain constituencies, Rohit.
08:02Begu Sarai has seen a sharp uptick where the voter turnout is going to touch practically 70%.
08:07But regions, districts like Darbhanga hasn't seen that kind of enthused voting.
08:13So have women come out sharply in certain regions and not come out in certain regions?
08:17You know, of course, one has to wait for the data.
08:20But what do you make for certain constituencies coming out in large numbers and others not as much as the rest?
08:31Well, you nailed it correctly.
08:33We have to wait for the data.
08:35How much women, what is the women percentage that has, they have voted today?
08:39But there are certain pockets where BJP or the NDA has done well.
08:44And there are certain pockets where Mahagadbandhan has done well.
08:48For example, Kosi and Mithilanchala, these are the two areas where we have been talking to a lot of our reporters also.
08:54Make your point, Rohit, what are you saying?
09:01So, Mithilanchala and Kosi, what?
09:02We have been talking to our district correspondents also.
09:08And the sense that we have got is that there are certain pockets like Mithilanchala, Kosi, Shahabad especially.
09:15Shahabad was one region, ARA, Baksar, where the NDA performed very badly, extremely, extremely badly in the 2020 election.
09:24But in these elections also we are hearing that there could be some good news for the NDA in Shahabad region also.
09:32Then there are certain pockets like Saran district and other adjoining districts where Mahagadbandhan has also done well.
09:39So, it's a mixed, we can say, bag for both NDA and Mahagadbandhan.
09:42Stay with me, stay with me.
09:43I just want to take our viewers because we are focusing on the women vote.
09:47I want to quickly take our viewers through, you know, data points.
09:52Now, what we have is data to go by.
09:54Let's go all the way to 2020 viewers.
09:56The male voter turnout stood at 51%, female at 54%.
10:012015, male voter turnout 57%, female voter turnout 60%.
10:072020, male voter turnout 54%, female voter turnout 60%.
10:12There is also, you know, in this a fine print to it, a subtext to it, which is that especially in the rural area,
10:19about 7% to 8% of young male population is migrant, where 65% of the households in rural Bihar are dependent on the salaries bought in by them.
10:29So, they are mostly missing during elections.
10:31Therefore, you see a sharp rise in women voters.
10:34But the women vote clearly is the core constituency nurtured for decades by Nitish Kumar.
10:40But, Moshmi, how are you reading this sharp uptick in increase in voter turnout?
10:45What does this mean?
10:46See, Preeti, according to the data that you actually just doled out in 2020,
10:57you know, we've seen that the seats that the Mahagarbandan has won,
11:02a large chunk of the male voters have voted, and the winnability has been,
11:08it has resulted in the winnability of the Mahagarbandan.
11:11And what I can tell you that, you know, the easiest way to chicken out of the question that you're asking is
11:18to say it's a close fight, you know, close fights everywhere.
11:22But we as journalists and political journalists, as observers,
11:26we can say what we've seen unfolding through the day.
11:30And I see, even if Rohit is also hinting, that Saran and this entire area,
11:37perhaps the Mahagarbandan could be at an edge.
11:42I have seen that through the day.
11:44I haven't seen those long queues.
11:46I spoke to Shashi also in the day, and he was saying that, you know,
11:50here in Mukama, Siwan, in other regions, in fact, you know,
11:54there was a lot of, you know, swelling up of women voters.
12:00Even Siwan, though he's neighboring, but in Chapra, I saw that the length of the queue of the male voters was much longer.
12:09Women voters were there, and there were a lot of silent voters.
12:13You know, the Yadav voters are very vocal.
12:16If you talk to them, they'll say,
12:18And they will talk about, we've got edge here, we've got edge there.
12:24But those voters, which are floating voters, they are silent.
12:30Yet again, the BJP voters are vocal.
12:32But JDO voters are silent.
12:36Youth voters are vocal.
12:37That's what I observed through the day.
12:38Okay.
12:42All right.
12:43I appreciate both of you for joining me.
12:44Thank you there.
12:45I want to just quickly, before, you know, we wrap up the show this evening,
12:49I want to take you through on who are the key candidates in the poll free.
12:52And number one is a hot seat.
12:54The seat of Raghapur is not going to be easy.
12:56This time for Tejasvi Yadav, who is the face of the Mahagat Bandhan,
13:01as well as the chief ministerial candidate.
13:03So he is one of the key candidates.
13:05His constituency is Raghapur viewers.
13:08The second, the deputy chief minister, also in a very close, tough fight.
13:12And that is Samrat Chaudhary, who's a sitting MLC, fighting an election.
13:16After 15 years from a constituency, he doesn't quite know.
13:19But his family has a stronghold there.
13:21So Samrat Chaudhary from Tarapur right now is another key candidate.
13:26Tej Pratab Yadav, the estranged brother of Tejasvi,
13:29estranged son right now of Lalu Prasad, who's floated his own political outfit,
13:35is contesting from the seat of Mahua.
13:38Once again, not an easy contest.
13:41Vijay Kumar Sinha, party BJP, deputy chief minister.
13:45Like I told you, two deputy CMs in the fray.
13:48Constituency, of course, Lucky Sarai.
13:51And a fair amount of theatrics and drama took place there today.
13:55Ultimately, Chapra, our last seat.
13:59Keshari Lal Yadav from the RJD, constituency Chapra.
14:03He's a Bhojpuri star.
14:05And this is a seat in which, of course, the RJD would want to rest back from the BJP
14:12because this is where Lalu Prasad began his career, his Karam Goomi.
14:18We're going to leave it at that.
14:19Lots more other candidates, but that's for later.
14:22Completely run out of time.
14:23We thank all our reporters, our editors and grounders.
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