Patna: Bihar on Tuesday recorded its highest-ever voter turnout of 68.52 per cent, provisionally, at close of polling in the second and final phase of the high-stakes assembly elections, seen as a veritable referendum on the state’s longest-serving Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

Kishanganj, the lone Muslim-majority district in the state, recorded the highest polling percentage so far at 76.26, followed by adjoining Katihar (75.23) and Purnea (73.79), Supaul (70.69) and Araria (67.79) (as reported by siasat)

Most of the districts are situated along the border with Nepal, many of them falling in the state’s north-eastern region of Kosi- Seemanchal, flood prone and with a high percentage of the minority community.

Voting turnout has also been high in south Bihar districts like Jamui (67.81 pc), Gaya (67.50 pc) and Kaimur (67.22 pc). The lowest turnout (57.31 pc) was recorded in Nawada, the only district that did not touch the 60 per cent mark till 5 pm.

Although, Nitish Kumar, who is a member of the state legislative council, is not himself contesting the polls, the BJP-led NDA is banking on ‘good governance’ during the tenure of the JD(U) president to tackle the anti-incumbency factor.

The second phase, in which eight ministers of his cabinet are in the fray, involves high stakes for the ruling NDA, as also the opposition INDIA bloc, which pins its hopes on the incumbency factor, as well as the high concentration of Muslims in many of the poll-bound districts.

The second phase is of particular significance for the Congress, a spent force which is, nonetheless, the second-largest constituent of the INDIA bloc in Bihar. Of the 19 seats it had won in 2020 assembly polls, 12 go to polls in the current phase. Its sitting MLAs include state president Rajesh Kumar Ram (Kutumba) and Shakeel Ahmed Khan (Kadwa).