Hyderabad: From sanitisation of polling booths to seeing a woman challenging Chief Minister and other political stalwarts, Bihar assembly elections witnessed 'many firsts'. The Bihar Assembly elections 2020 was closely watched by many in the country due to several peculiarities.
1. Under the shadow of COVID: The Bihar elections 2020 was one of the first elections in the world held under the shadow of COVID-19 pandemic. The ECI ordered that polling materials, banners, posters, etc, needed to be stored in large well-ventilated halls. Premises, where voting was to take place, were sanitised and sealed a day earlier. Para-health or Asha workers were pressed into service for thermal scanning of voters and sanitisation was to be done regularly through the polling exercise.
2. Virtual campaigns and online nominations: For the first time, parties focused more on virtual outreach than public meetings. Although public rallies were held, all the COVID-19 protocols were followed.
The candidates filed their online nominations as per the option given by the Election Commission. If a candidate wanted to file the nomination physically, then only two persons were allowed to accompany her/him. The number of vehicles visiting the government offices were restricted to two.
The ECI implemented postal ballots for all voters aged above 80 years. This option was also made available to COVID-19 patients and to specially-abled persons.
3. A woman candidate floated a party: Daughter of JD(U) leader Vinod Kumar Chaudhary, Pushpam Priya Chaudhary floated the new party 'Plurals'. She has a master's degree in public administration from London's famous London School of Economics. The logo of her party is a winged horse.
During the election campaigning, Pushpam challenged Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, RJD chief Tejashwi Yadav and others in the fray. It was also for the first time that a woman candidate declared herself as the CM candidate.
4. Lalu Prasad Yadav missing: It was the first time in the last 40 years when some of the senior leaders who dictated the politics of the state were absent in the assembly election. RJD president Lalu Prasad has been in jail since 2017. He was absent during the campaign for the first time.
The elections in the State also felt the absence of veteran politicians like Raghuvansh Prasad Yadav and Ram Vilas Paswan, both of who passed away recently.
READ: Bihar Exit Poll: Political pundits failed to judge mood of youth
5. Manifestos focused on job creation: Major parties like the BJP, RJD, LJP gave prominence to the promises of jobs, employment and better education facilities in their election manifestos. It's no secret that Bihar politics is caste-driven. While RJD promised 10 lakh jobs, BJP promised to create 19 lakh job opportunities in the State. LJP also kept forward its vision document of 'Bihar First Bihari First' and promised the upliftment of youth and improving the health and education facilities.
6. BJP's promise of free COVID-19 vaccine: The BJP promised 'residents of Bihar' free vaccination against COVID-19 in its Bihar assembly election manifesto. The promise drew sharp reactions from opposition parties, most of which called it 'appalling' for making the vaccine a poll agenda.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said: “After crossing all the stages, there are at least three vaccines that have reached the last stage, and are on the cusp of production. After this, if scientific people say this vaccine is fine, production can take place. Our production capacity, because of the government’s intervention, is very large.”
7. Tejashwi to be youngest CM: If RJD is voted to power, Tejashwi Yadav will become the youngest Chief Minister in the country. In Bihar, the record of being the youngest Chief Minister is currently held by Satish Prasad Singh who became the chief minister in January 1968 at the age of 32. Dr Jagannath Mishra became the Chief Minister of Bihar in April 1975 at the age of 38.
8. Family into politics: The exit polls have given a thumping majority to RJD led Mahagathbandhan in the 2020 Bihar Assembly elections where the alliance is expected to win in 139 to 161 seats. If Bihar chooses Tejashwi Yadav as its CM, then it will be for the first time that a third member of the same family will hold the office of Chief Minister in India. Lalu Prasad Yadav became the Chief Minister of Bihar in 1990, however, resigned in 1997 following graft allegations. Rabri Devi served three terms as the Chief Minister of Bihar from between 1997 and 2005.
