Bihar polls 2020: Voting will be held in 3 phases, results to be announced on Nov 10

Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora said that Bihar Assembly polls will be one of the biggest elections across the world in the current coronavirus crisis. The pandemic has created new situations in all the aspects of life following which Bihar elections will also be held under new security guidelines.

Patna: The Election Commission on Friday announced the dates of Bihar Assembly Elections which will be held in three phases. The voting for the first phase will be held on October 28, while the second and third phases of voting will be held on November 3 and November 7 respectively. Counting of votes will take place on November 10. This time the Election Commission has issued new guidelines to conduct the entire poll process because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Read:|Election Commission announces Bihar assembly poll dates

This time there are 7 crore 79 lakh voters of which 3 crore 79 lakh voters are male and 3 crore 39 lakh are female voters. Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora said that this time voting will be extended by one more hour and will be held from 7 am to 6 pm. But the timing will be different in Naxalite affected areas.

Election campaigning will be mostly virtual:

This year the number of polling stations and manpower has been increased. COVID-19 patients will be allowed to cast their votes during the end, for which separate arrangements will be made. The campaign will be mostly virtual but the district magistrate will decide the time and place of the small rallies. Every polling booth will be provided with soap and sanitiser.

More than seven crore voters will take part:

More than seven crore voters will cast their vote in the 2020 Assembly elections in Bihar. This time there will be only one thousand voters at one booth. As many as 6 lakh PPE kits will be given to the State Election Commission besides 46 lakh masks and seven lakh hand sanitizers will be used, along with 6 lakh face shields. There are more than 18 lakh migrant labourers, of which 16 lakh can cast their votes. People above the age of 80 will be able to vote with postal ballots.

Elections to be held in three stages:

• Total seats of Bihar Legislative Assembly - 243
• First phase: voting in 16 Districts
• Notification: October 1
• Last date of nomination: October 8
• Voting on 71 seats on October 28
• Second phase: voting in 17 districts
• Notification: October 9
• Last date of nomination: October 18
• Voting on 94 seats on 3 November
• Third phase: voting in 15 districts
• Notification: October 13
• Last date of nomination: October 20
• Voting on 78 seats on 7 November
• Counting of votes and result declaration: November 10

Reactions from the Politicos:

#Will win with absolute majority: Shahnawaz Hussain

Meanwhile, political statements have also started pouring in after the announcement of election dates. Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has welcomed the decision of the Election Commission. As soon as the election was announced, BJP National Spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said that Nitish Kumar will be the Chief Minister. NDA will get an absolute majority. He also said that there are no differences in NDA. Everyone is together and united.

#Our competition is with BJP: Tejashwi Yadav

After the press conference of the Election Commission, Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Yadav said, "We welcome the decision of the Election Commission. We are confident that the people of Bihar want to get rid of this government. JDU does not matter to us, the fight is with BJP."

#We will form a government with a huge majority: JDU

JDU National General Secretary KC Tyagi said that the party is fully prepared to win the elections. He claimed that NDA will again form the government in Bihar with a strong majority. He also stated that JDU was waiting for the announcements of poll dates and this time the party will be highlighting the development work done by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in 15 years.

"The election issue will be targetted on the development work done by Nitish Kumar in the past 15 years as compared to the work done by former RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav in 15 years. People have not forgotten the maladministration done by Lalu. Nitish Kumar has done hard work to create new developed Bihar," he added.

#Conduction polls amid pandemic will be a threat: Congress

Congress leader Tariq Anwar said that holding elections during the coronavirus pandemic will be full of danger. The polls must have been postponed until the situation becomes normal. Now that the elections have been imposed on the people of Bihar, all political parties will have to fight for their survival. The grand alliance will enter the elections with full force and expose the 15-year NDA maladministration and shortcomings before the people.

Total 243 seats in Bihar Assembly

There are a total of 243 seats in Bihar Assembly. Out of these, 38 seats are reserved for Scheduled Castes and 2 seats for Scheduled Tribes. In 2015, there were 6.68 crore voters in the state. Only 56 per cent of these had exercised their franchise.

Read:|JDU-BJP ready for Bihar polls, not in alliance with LJP: KC Tyagi