Bihar, Patna: As the first phase of polling begins in Bihar on Thursday, RJD leader and Mahagathbandhan’s chief ministerial face Tejashwi Yadav urged citizens to exercise their democratic right, calling on them to “I would appeal everyone to come out of their homes and vote for change, vote for development, for jobs...".

Having held the Raghopur seat since 2015, Yadav faces a stiff challenge from BJP’s Satish Kumar Yadav, who lost to him in the 2020 elections.

Meanwhile, his brother Tej Pratap Yadav, who floated the Janshakti Janta Dal after parting ways with RJD, has fielded Prem Kumar for the seat.

Voting for the first phase of the Bihar Assembly elections began today at 7 a.m. across 121 constituencies in 18 districts of the state’s 243 seats, with nearly 3.75 crore electors set to cast their ballots. Polling will conclude at 6 p.m, though in some constituencies, voting hours have been curtailed to 5 p.m. due to security considerations.

This phase will decide the fate of several key leaders, including RJD’s Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, BJP’s Samrat Choudhary and Mangal Pandey, and JD(U)’s Shravan Kumar and Vijay Kumar Choudhary. Strongman Anant Singh and Tej Pratap Yadav are also contesting in this phase.

According to the Election Commission, there are 10.72 lakh new electors, including 7.78 lakh voters aged between 18 and 19 years, while the total population of these constituencies stands at 6.60 crore.