Another plea in SC seeks postponement of Bihar polls

A fresh plea by the Rashtravadi Janata Party in the Supreme Court sought the postponement of the Bihar elections to March next year in view of the COVID-19 situation. This comes after the apex court had already dismissed a similar petition earlier.

New Delhi: The Rashtravadi Janata Party has moved the Supreme Court seeking directions to postpone the Bihar Legislative Assembly elections that are scheduled to be held in October this year, and has sought to instead conduct them in March next year.

The petitioner contended that the spread of the pandemic is still in "peak in all over India."

"Further at present time, the state is also undergoing flood situation and it will be better for the safety of the people of India to hold the said election sometime in March 2021 when the situation in the state is somewhat normalised so that the citizens can participate and cast their votes safely without there being any threat - either of pandemic or the flood," the petitioner added.

Contending that India has become the epicenter of the pandemic, the petitioner said that considering the vast population, medical facilities compared to other developed nations, life of people would be put in danger.

Read:Covid-19 no ground for postponing Bihar polls: SC

Further, it said that torrential rain and floods had rendered millions of people in the state homeless, struggling to earn livelihood and that they should not be further burdened to cast their vote in this dire situation.

The petitioner had already given a representation to the Election Commission of India, but no decision has yet been taken.

"It is respectfully submitted that the human life is paramount and not the election and that it is the duty of the government to think about the safety of its citizens first and thereafter do any other activities," read the plea.

Earlier a similar plea seeking to postpone the Bihar elections was dismissed by the court stating that COVID-19 cannot be the ground to postpone the elections.

Read:Bihar Assembly Polls: LJP holds crucial meeting amid rift with JD(U)