PATNA: Nearly 58 percent of the total 2.35 crore electors exercised their franchise in the third and final round of polling in Bihar Saturday as voting concluded in the first major election in the country since outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.


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As many as 78 assembly constituencies spread across 15 districts in the Seemanchal, Kosi, Mithilanchal and Tirhut regions went to polls in the final phase amid strong security and unprecedented anti-coronavirus measures.


According to Election Commission data updated at 10 pm, the provisional voter turnout in the third phase of polling was 57.92 per cent, higher than the polling percentage recorded in the first (55.68) and the second (55.70) phases of voting.


Bihar Assembly election result on November 10:


With polling having been concluded for all 243 seats, the focus now shifts to the Bihar election result which will take place on on November 10, as votes will be taken up for counting. On the counting day, the Electronic Voting Machines will be opened sharp at 8 in the morning and the process of counting votes will begin. 


Several exit polls on Saturday gave the RJD-led opposition alliance an edge over the ruling NDA, but who will rule the state for the next five years will be known only after the votes are counted on Tuesday.


In the third phase of polling, 2.35 crore voters — 1,23 crore men, 1.12 crore women and 894 in the third gender category — were eligible to decide the fate of 1,204 candidates which included assembly Speaker Vijay Kumar Chaudhary and 12 ministers.


Owaisi factor in Bihar assembly election:


This phase of elections is also noteworthy because of the role the 'Owaisi factor' might play. Headed by fiery Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi, the AIMIM is in the fray in more than a dozen seats, mostly in the Kosi-Seemanchal region which is densely populated and has a high percentage of Muslim residents.