Patna: Bihar’s journey from being synonymous with poll violence to witnessing peaceful, incident-free elections has been nothing short of remarkable.

In the 1985 assembly elections, political clashes left 63 dead and forced repolling across 156 booths. The situation worsened in 1990 with 87 election-related deaths, cementing Bihar’s reputation for blood-soaked politics. Five years later, the 1995 polls saw such rampant malpractices that then Chief Election Commissioner T.N. Seshan postponed the elections four times—a rare move that underscored the state’s chronic law and order challenges.

Even as recently as 2005, Bihar witnessed repolling in 660 booths due to widespread violence and booth capturing. The state had long been seen as a test case for India’s ability to conduct free and fair elections.

Fast forward to 2025, and the transformation is striking: zero repolling, zero violence. The 2025 elections witnessed unprecedented voter enthusiasm, surpassing previous records by a wide margin. The two-phase polling recorded 65.08% turnout in the first phase and 68.76% in the second, with female voter participation notably higher at 71.6% compared to 62.8% for men. The overall turnout saw an increase of nearly 9.6 percentage points compared to the 57.29% recorded in 2020.