The curtain fell on the first phase of the Bihar assembly elections amidst a palpable atmosphere of democratic fervour, concluding with a massive and historic voter turnout of 64.66%. This figure not only surpassed the previous assembly election record set in 2000 (62.57%) but also eclipsed the highest-ever Lok Sabha polling percentage recorded in the state (64.6% in 1998), marking an emphatic high in Bihar’s electoral history. However, this high participation immediately sparked intense debate among political analysts, who are now scrambling to interpret what the robust turnout truly signifies.

As one analyst keenly posed, “Who does that benefit? What is the messaging here? Is it anti-incumbency, is it the wings of change, or is it essentially a tick for the Nitish model of governance?

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