Delegates From Seven Nations Witness First Phase of Bihar Assembly Elections 2025

New Delhi: Delegates from seven countries – France, South Africa, Belgium, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Colombia – witnessed the polling process during the first phase of the Bihar Assembly Elections today (Thursday) under the International Election Visitors’ Program 2025.

The programme was launched at the India International Institute for Democracy and Election Management (IIIDEM) in New Delhi on November 4. The 16-member delegation is on a two-day visit to Bihar, where they will be observing the polling process and visiting Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) dispatch centres.

During the inaugural session, the participants were briefed on India’s electoral processes, including the functioning of EVMs, preparation of electoral rolls, and overall election management. Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioner Dr Vivek Joshi also interacted with the delegates.

It is a flagship programme of the ECI that aims at fostering international cooperation and engagement with the election management bodies of other countries and international organisations.

Bihar Elections 2025 Phase 1

The first phase of the Bihar Assembly Elections 2025 began today at 7 am across 121 constituencies in 18 districts. The voter turnout in Bihar for the first phase of assembly elections stands at 53.77 per cent, as of 3:00 PM, as per the data shared by the Election Commission of India (ECI).

Among the 18 districts, Begusarai recorded the highest turnout of 59.82 per cent, followed by Muzaffarpur at 58.40 per cent and Gopalganj at 58.17 per cent. Patna district continues to record a slow-moving voter turnout among all districts at 48.69 per cent. Lakhisarai district recorded a voter turnout of 57.39 per cent, followed by Madhepura, which recorded a voter turnout of 55.96 per cent.

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