Bihar on Tuesday bested its voting record with a 66.91 per cent turnout cumulatively for both phases of the Assembly polls.

This is the first election in the state after the special intensive revision whittled down the voter list from 7.89 crore to 7.42 crore, including new voters.

The previous Assembly poll turnout record for Bihar was 62.57 per cent in 2000.
For the Lok Sabha elections, the highest turnout in the state was 64.6 per cent in 1998.

In Madhubani’s Bisfi seat, BJP motormouth Haribhushan Thakur has been pitted against RJD scion Asif Ahmad. In 2022, Thakur had called for disenfranchising Muslims. Asif is the son of RJD MP Faiyaz Ahmad, who has a long electoral rivalry with Thakur.

However, communal undertones around the Delhi blast weren’t heard in Bisfi.

In Balhaghat, BJP supporter Chhotu Sahani held forth outside the polling station on the banks of the Kamala river. Asked if the blast would impact voters here, he said: “For us, jobs are more important. The BJP will bring a defence corridor to Bihar, where we may find work. Blasts are a national issue and not an election issue for Bihar.”

Chhotu works as a scrap dealer in Himachal Pradesh’s Chamba. He is back home to serve Thakur, as “my father and his father had worked for Thakurji’s family”, he said.

Chhotu said the presence of Mukesh Sahani from his Mallah caste in the Mahagatbandhan didn’t affect him. “Thakurji is honest. He does what he says he will, and he is there to help anyone at any time. Why will we vote for anyone else?”

Cyber cafe operator Govind Sharma of Dudhail isn’t impressed with Thakur, but is as concerned about employment as Chhotu is. “The Delhi blast was not on my mind when I voted. Our focus should be on employment. The MLA always seems interested in emotive issues rather than work,” he told The Telegraph.

Jeebach Yadav, a civil works contractor in Punjab, is back home in Bisfi to cast his vote. “I have endured abuse, assault, underpayment and harassment as an outsider in Punjab. I could not find work here. I am ready to work here for less pay, but there’s no work,” he said.

Jeebach said he voted for Thakur. “He is always there to help anyone from any caste. With Faiyaz’s son, I don’t know,” he said while waiting for pushcart vendor Ojari Shah to serve him a samosa.

“Sugar mills shut down during Lalu’s tenure as chief minister. When crops fail now, there is starvation. There is no mill to work in. Lalu took several measures for the lower castes, but the economy failed. Nitish did well in the beginning, but now I want Tejashwi Yadav as the chief minister,” Ojari said.

Both of them said the blast near the Red Fort was scary, but did not affect their voting preferences.