An average voter turnout of 48.23% was recorded till 6 pm of polling on April 19 (Friday) in four Lok Sabha constituencies of Bihar where voting is underway in the first phase of the Lok Sabha election.

According to the footage Gaya, having the highest number of candidates (14) in the fray, has 18.18 lakh voters. From Gaya, former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, an NDA ally is making yet another bid to enter Lok Sabha.

“Four constituencies went to polls in the first phase - Auranganbad, Gaya, Nawada and Jamui. Voting was held in 7,903 polling centres. Till 6 pm, approximately 48.23 per cent average voter turnout was recorded in the four constituencies" Bihar Chief Election Officer HR Srinivasa said in a press conference.

"Polling in underway at some polling centres. This is 5 per cent less than the voter turnout recorded in 2019 Lok Sabha polls," the Chief Election Officer added.

The polling started at 7 am and according to the Chief electoral officer Bihar, till 5 pm, 49.95 per cent of voting was reported in Aurangabad, 48.54 per cent in Gaya, 40.20 per cent in Nawada, and 47.09 per cent voting was recorded in Jamui. The overall voter turnout percentage stood at 40.92 in four constituencies of Bihar in the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections.

The voting in the four constituencies of Bihar in the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections will decide the fate of 38 candidates in the fray.

As per the Bihar chief electoral officer, tight security arrangements are in place at Nawada, Aurangabad and reserved seats of Gaya and Jamui, where a majority of nearly 5,000 polling booths have been marked as "sensitive".