Bihar Polls: 2 Women Claim They Were Not Allowed to Cast Votes, Patna Administration Dismisses It Citing EPIC & 12 Documents

Patna, Bihar: Two women have claimed that they were not allowed to cast their votes for the first phase of the Bihar assembly elections on Thursday.

They said that they were denied voting right as they were not carrying the Voter Information Slip.

Speaking to ANI, one of the women, Shreya Mehta said, "The BLO did not give us the slip, and we were asked to download it digitally. My name is on the voters' list. Now, I have been told to bring the slip, or else I will not be allowed to vote. I have my voter ID card as well. My name is also on the list here; the serial number is 17. We have been waiting here since 6:30 AM. Now, we are going back, we will not cast our vote."

The District Administration of Patna has now dismissed the claim and issued a clarification on the matter.

In a post on X, District Administration of Patna said, "Voter Information Slip isn’t required for casting vote. EPIC or any one of 12 documents can be conveniently shown for establishing identity."

Voting for the first phase of the 2025 assembly elections in Bihar began today at 7.00 am across 121 constituencies in 18 districts of the state's 243 seats, with approximately 3.75 crore electors casting their ballot.

Polling will conclude at 6 pm, and due to security considerations, polling time has been curtailed to 5 pm in some constituencies.

The first phase will decide the fate of several senior leaders, including RJD's Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, BJP leaders Samrat Choudhary and Mangal Pandey and JD(U)'s Shravan Kumar and Vijay Kumar Choudhary. Tej Pratap Yadav is also in the fray in the first phase.

The 2020 polling took place in three phases. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) secured 125 seats, while the opposition Mahagathbandhan (MGB) won 110. Among the major parties, the Janata Dal (United) bagged 43 seats, the BJP bagged 74, the RJD secured 75 seats and the Congress 19. The JD(U) had contested 115 constituencies and the BJP 110, whereas the RJD contested 144 seats and the Congress 70.