Bihar ended the final phase of its heated assembly election on Thursday, which saw intense political drama and campaigning by the BJP-led National Democratic Front (NDA) and the Grand Alliance comprising the Janata Dal (United), the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress.
Voting commenced in the districts of Madhubani, Purnea, Darbhanga, Supual, Madhepura, Katihar, Araria and Kisanganj at 7 am on Thursday, and continued till 5 pm, expect in the two Naxal-affected constituencies in the Saharsa district, where voting ended at 3 pm.
The battle between Narendra Modi's BJP and Nitish Kumar-Lalu Prasad Yadav's Grand Alliance played out one final time, and clashes were reported between NDA workers and Grand Alliance members in some parts of the state on Thursday.
Updates so far:
5.18 pm IST: The Bihar polls fifth phase has ended with a voter turnout of 59.46% till 5 pm.
5.02 pm IST: Clashes have reportedly broken out between workers of the BJP-led NDA and the workers of the JD(U)-RJD-Congress combined Grand Alliance in Bihar's Darbhanga city.
Security forces had to be brought in, ANI news agency reported.
FLASH: Clashes between Mahagathbandhan and NDA workers in Alinagar (Darbhanga); security forces rushed in
— ANI (@ANI_news) November 5, 2015
4.35 pm IST: 55.90% voters have inked their fingers till 4 pm in the last round of the Bihar polls.
2.58 pm IST: Nearly half the eligible voters for the fifth phase turned out to cast their ballots till 2 pm, with 45.62 % polling recorded.
2.15 pm IST: 39% polling was recorded till 1pm.
1.32 pm IST: The BJP seems confident of a victory in the Bihar polls.
#BiharPolls is between hope and disappointment. People want change, we'll win convincingly: Ravi Shankar Prasad pic.twitter.com/Boj8qdeFOY
— ANI (@ANI_news) November 5, 2015
12.39 pm IST: A brisk 31.80% polling was recorded till 12pm.
11.46 am IST: The voter turnout was 24.29% till 11am.
11.00 am IST: While there were smaller queues at polling booths in the morning, more people are turning up to vote now, IANS reported.
9.51 am IST: 11.23% voting was recorded till 9 am in the fifth and final phase of the Bihar election.
9.50 am IST: 5.58 per cent voter turnout was recorded till 8 am on Thursday.
8.20 am IST: Women voters come out in strong numbers to vote.
Women queue up to vote outside a polling booth in Darbhanga #BiharPolls pic.twitter.com/HzLQyltoIf
— ANI (@ANI_news) November 5, 2015
8.10 am IST: Voting is underway across nine districts.
Voting underway in the 5th phase of #BiharPolls in Supaul pic.twitter.com/BmpjkDaz63
— ANI (@ANI_news) November 5, 2015
6.30 am IST: Voting is set to begin across 14,709 polling stations for the fifth phase.
