New Delhi: The much-awaited dates for Bihar Assembly elections were announced by the Election Commission today. Polling for the 243-member assembly will be held in three phases on October 28, and November 3 and 7 and results will be declared on November 10.

Bihar will be the first state to go to polls amid the Coronavirus pandemic. The poll body waited for long to Covid-19 to subside but it has shown no sign of weakening. Eventually, the Election Commission announces poll dates for the Assembly, which is set to expire on November 29. Bihar Assembly has a strength of 243 members, of whom 38 seats are reserved for SCs and two for STs.

Political temperature has been soaring in the state for quite sometime now. The death and subsequent probe into Sushant Singh Rajput has been one of the issues, which political parties are trying to cash on.

Unlike earlier acrimonious tussle over ‘Big Brother’, NDA has reposed unflinching faith in Nitish Kumar’s leadership while Mahagathbandhan looks in disarray, with coalition parties leaving it one after the another.

In 2015, it was NDA Vs Nitish-Lalu tie-up

In the previous Assembly elections held in the state in 2015, JDU, RJD and Congress had fought the elections together under the Mahagathbandhan banner while BJP-led NDA had fought the elections with Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) and other allies.

RJD had emerged as the single largest party with 80 seats, getting a fresh lease of life and saving itself from further decay. JD (U) came second with 71 seats while BJP was distant 3rd with 53 seats.

BJP had got the largest vote share (24.42 per cent), followed by RJD with 18.35 per cent and JDU (16.83 per cent). But, the Nitish-Lalu combine ensured saffron party stayed out of power in the state. Their 39.07 per cent of vote share had secured them 206 seats.

However, months after polls, rift emerged JDU and the RJD and further aggravated in days to come. In 2017, Nitish Kumar snapped ties with Lalu’s party and joined hands with the BJP-led NDA to retain power in Bihar.

Bihar Assembly Elections 2020 in 3 phases

Assembly elections in Bihar will be conducted in three phases.
1st phase – 71 constituencies in 16 districts at 31,000 polling stations.
2nd phase – 94 constituencies in 17 districts at 42,000 polling stations
3rd phase = 78 constituencies in 15 districts at 33,500 polling stations.

Covid-19 norms to follow during Bihar elections

The Election Commission has made arrangement for sanitisers, masks, PPE kits, face shields and hand gloves for the smooth and safe conduct of the election process in the state.

“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,” CEC said in press conference.

He also said that the COVID-19 patients, who are quarantined, will be able to cast their votes at the last day of polling at their respective polling stations under the supervision of health authorities.

The polling now will be held from 7 am to 6 pm, instead of the earlier 7 am to 5 pm time frame.