As voting for the first phase of the Bihar Assembly elections 2025 began on Thursday, Bhojpuri actor and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) powerstar Pawan Singh appealed to voters to exercise their right in large numbers, stressing that his vote was “for the sake of development.”

“I have cast my vote, and my vote is for development. Now I appeal to the people of Bihar to step out of their homes and vote for the sake of development,” Pawan Singh told reporters.

Polling for the first phase commenced at 7:00 am across 121 constituencies in 18 districts, covering approximately 3.75 crore electors. Voting will continue till 6 pm, with certain constituencies observing an early close at 5 pm due to security considerations.

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

In the 2020 Assembly elections, polling was conducted in three phases, with the NDA securing 125 seats and the Mahagathbandhan (MGB) winning 110. Among major parties, the JD(U) won 43 seats, the BJP 74, the RJD 75, and the Congress 19.