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
