Patna: The office of the chief electoral officer (CEO), Bihar, on Saturday reported sharp revisions in the final voter turnout figures for legislative council constituencies that voted on Friday, with the Patna Graduates’ constituency registering an unprecedented 21.37-percentage-point rise over the provisional figure released at the close of polling at 4pm.According to the CEO office, the provisional turnout in Patna Graduates’ at 4pm on Friday was 36.19%. The final turnout issued on Saturday was 57.56%, marking an increase of 21.37 percentage points. The Patna Teachers’ constituency also saw a large revision, rising by 17.56 percentage points from Friday’s provisional 56.89% to a final 74.75%.The Darbhanga Graduates’ constituency recorded a 12.73-percentage-point increase over the provisional 4pm figure. The Tirhut Graduates’ constituency reported a 6.36-percentage-point rise, while Darbhanga Teachers’ registered a 6.87-percentage-point increase. Tirhut Teachers’ showed a 4.89-percentage-point increase in the final tally, according to the data released by the CEO office.The CEO office on Saturday released only final turnout data for all eight constituencies where polling was held on Friday. It did not provide any explanation for the wide gap between the provisional turnout figures announced at the close of polling and the final numbers, particularly in the Patna Graduates’ and Patna Teachers’ constituencies.Senior Congress functionary Harkhu Jha questioned the revisions, calling them unprecedented. “Never before in the past has such a huge difference in the percentage of provisional voter turnout and final voter turnout been reported. Generally, the voting percentage increases by one or two per cent in the final data. The CEO office must give an explanation over it,” Jha said.
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