Bihar Assembly Elections 2020 dates to be announced; EC to hold briefing at 12:30 pm

The Election Commission is likely to announce the schedule for the Bihar assembly elections on Friday. The EC has convened a press conference at 12.30 pm on Friday. Sheyphali Sharan, Official Spokesperson, Election Commission of India has said that the press conference will be held over Bihar Elections. The term of the 243-member Bihar legislative assembly comes to an end on November 29.

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.

In the 243-member assembly seat, NDA currently has 131, and Mahagathbandhan has 101 seats (11 seats are vacant). In the 2015 assembly polls, CM Nitish Kumar's JDU, then a part of the Mahagathbandhan won 71 seats, Lalu Prasad Yadav's RJD won 80 seats, and Congress won 27 seats. The BJP which fought the elections alone after Kumar in 2013 broke the 17-year-old alliance won a mere 53 seats out of 157 contested. However, the saffron party came back to power when Kumar ditched the Mahagathbandhan and once again stitched an alliance with the BJP.

Bihar polls amid COVID-19

Last week, according to a statement issued by the Election Commission of India, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Arora explained the impact of COVID-19 on the election. He highlighted how Coronavirus exigencies and social distancing measures necessitated a revisit of the EC's existing instructions.

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The maximum number of electors at a polling station was reduced from 1,500 to 1,000, and consequently, the number of polling stations jumped by 40 per cent, from 65,000 to 100,000. These changes have huge logistics and manpower implications, he pointed out. The CEC also observed that the poll watchdog has placed a lot of emphasis on extending facilitation to senior citizens, women, persons with disabilities and in current circumstances, ensuring franchise to COVID-19 positive voters and those in quarantine.

Earlier this month, the Election Commission had said it has decided to hold 65 pending by-elections and the Bihar assembly polls "around the same time". There are 64 vacancies in the legislative assemblies of various states and one in Lok Sabha.

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(With agency inputs)