Bihar Polls: Ravi Shankar Prasad exudes confidence in NDA; says 'Nitish will be CM again'

Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Friday expressed confidence that the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) would gain a majority in the upcoming assembly polls in Bihar and return to power in the state.

“We are confident that NDA will get a majority and Nitish Kumar ji will be Chief Minister again,” said Prasad who is also an MP from Patna Sahib in Bihar.

The Assembly polls for the 243-member legislative assembly will be held in three phases - first, on October 28, Second on October 3 and the third on November 7. The results will be announced on November 10, the Election Commission announced.

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The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Friday announced the schedule for the Bihar assembly elections on Friday in a press conference in New Delhi.  The Commission has already made elaborate arrangements for ensuring the effective implementation of Model Code of Conduct guidelines, he said. 

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who leads a coalition with the BJP, will fight for a fourth term in these elections, with the opposition RJD and the Congress challenging him. The ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) includes Janata Dal-United, BJP, Chirag Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) and former Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi's Hindustani Awam Morcha.

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Arrangements in light of COVID-19

Speaking on the elections being held amid Coronavirus pandemic, the CEC said, "As days and months passed & COVID-19 showed no signs of abetting, it was realised that some way would have to be found to balance the democratic rights of the electorate while also making sincere and systematic efforts to protect health and safety of people.

Sunil Arora said that COVID-19 patients who are quarantined will be able to cast their vote on the last day of poll, at their respective polling stations, under the supervision of health authorities. "This is beside the option of the postal facility already extended to them," he said. 

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"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 have been arranged. For voters specifically, 7.2 crore single-use hand gloves arranged," Sunil Arora stated.

"To further decongest polling stations and allow more free movement of voters, polling time has been increased by 1 hour. It'll be held from 7 am-6 pm, instead of 7 am-5 pm earlier. However, this will not be applicable to Left-wing affected areas," the Chief Election Commissioner said. 

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