For the first time in Bihar’s electoral history, the state recorded zero voting day deaths and no re-polling during the recently concluded assembly elections, marking a historic shift from its violent past.
According to official data, not a single incident of poll-related death or booth-level re-election was reported during the two-phase elections, making this year’s polls the most peaceful the state has ever witnessed.
This stands in stark contrast to earlier decades when Bihar’s elections were marred by widespread violence, fatalities, and large-scale re-polling. In the 1985 assembly polls, 63 people were killed and re-polling was ordered in 156 booths. The 1990 elections saw 87 deaths linked to poll violence.
In 1995, then Chief Election Commissioner T. N. Seshan had to postpone the Bihar elections four times due to rampant malpractices and law-and-order issues. Even in 2005, re-polling took place in as many as 660 booths following violence and irregularities.
Election officials have attributed this year’s success to enhanced security deployment, strict enforcement of the Model Code of Conduct, and the vigilance of the Election Commission.
The counting of votes for the two-phase Bihar Assembly polls is currently underway, but regardless of the outcome, this election has already made history for its peaceful and incident-free conduct — a milestone achievement for the state once infamous for poll-time violence.
