New Delhi: The Election Commission of India (ECI) announced dates for Bihar Assembly polls on Friday.
Bihar polls will be held in three phases; 1st phase to cover 71 assembly constituencies, 2nd phase for 94 seats and 3rd will have 78.
The Assembly elections for 243 seats in Bihar and the tenure of the current Assembly is scheduled to end on November 29.
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Bihar Elections Dates Announced: Top points
# In 1st phase, 71 Assembly constituencies in 16 districts, including most of the LWE (Left wing extremism) affected districts will go for poll. In 2nd phase, 94 Assembly constituencies in 17 districts & in 3rd phase, 78 Assembly constituencies in 15 districts will go for poll: CEC
# Bihar to vote in three phases, says Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora.
# Postal ballot facility will be provided wherever required and requested: EC on Bihar polls during COVID-19 pandemic
# The social media platforms are expected to make adequate arrangements to safeguard against misuse of their platforms & set up strict protocols to handle such issues as and when they arise: Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora.
# As we talk, the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) stands enforced with this announcement. The Commission has already made elaborate arrangements for ensuring the effective implementation of MCC guidelines: Chief Election Commissioner, Sunil Arora
# Bihar assembly polls will be one of the biggest elections globally to be held during prevailing COVID-19 situation: Election Commission
# To further decongest polling stations & allow more free movement of voters, polling time has been increased by 1 hour. It’ll be held from 7 am-6 pm, instead of 7 am-5 pm earlier. However, this will not be applicable to Left-wing affected areas: CEC Sunil Arora.
#COVID19 patients who’re quarantined will be able to cast their vote on the last day of poll, at their respective polling stations, under the supervision of health authorities. This is beside the option of postal facility already extended to them: CEC Sunil Arora.
# As days and months passed & COVID19 showed no signs of abetting, it was realised that some way would have to be found to balance the democratic rights of the electorate while also making sincere & systematic efforts to protect health & safety of people: CEC Sunil Arora
# Social distancing norms will need to be followed at public gatherings during election campaign: CEC Sunil Arora
# Over 7 lakh hand sanitiser units, about 46 lakh masks, 6 lakh PPE kits, 6.7 lakh units of faces-shields, 23 lakh (pairs of) hand gloves arranged. For voters specifically, 7.2 crore single-use hand gloves arranged: Chief Election
# The term of assembly in the state of Bihar is due to expire on 29th November, 2020. Bihar assembly has a strength of 243 members, of whom 38 seats are reserved for SCs and two for STs: Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora
# More polling boots due to social distancing.
While Opposition parties like Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) had earlier been urging for the polls to be postponed owing to the pandemic, they later held talks over the sharing of seats in the RJD and Congress-led Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance).
The incumbent BJP and Janata Dal-United (JDU) coalition government have also begun preparations for the polls. The central leadership of the BJP had clarified that the NDA will go to Bihar polls under the leadership of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
The war of words between NDA and Mahagathbandhan has peaked in the past few days with the speculations regarding poll dates likely to be announced on the rise.
In the previous Assembly elections held in the state in 2015, JDU, RJD and Congress had fought the elections together under the Mahagathbandhan banner.
On the other hand, BJP led NDA had fought the elections with Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) and other allies.
RJD with 80 seats had emerged as the single largest party in the 2015 Assembly elections, followed by JDU (71), and BJP (53). However, BJP got the largest vote share (24.42 per cent), followed by RJD with 18.35 per cent and JDU (16.83 per cent).
After the polls, however, a rift emerged between JDU and the RJD in 2017, leading to CM Nitish Kumar snapping ties and rejoining ties with the BJP-led NDA to retain power in Bihar.
