'Congress ready for Bihar polls with full force': Campaign chief Akhilesh Prasad Singh

Congress is "ready" for the Bihar election with "full force" despite a big challenge posed by the Coronavirus pandemic, former Union Minister and Congress Rajya Sabha MP from Bihar, Akhilesh Prasad Singh, said on Saturday. He is the state party unit's campaign chief.

Speaking to ANI, Singh said that coronavirus is a big challenge but the Congress is ready for elections with "full force," and it does not want to postpone the election. "Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) has raised an important issue regarding COVID-19 as the safety of people is more important than politics. But it does not mean that we are not ready for elections," he added.

He expressed concern about the recent announcement made by the Election Commission (EC) with regard to voting by senior citizens. "The way the EC wants to conduct the elections will be a fair election. If the ballot will be given to people above 65 years of age to conduct an election, how will the objective of free and fair elections be achieved? There are more than 70 lakh voters in Bihar, who are more than 65 years old. The opposition fears that the police will go door to door to intimidate them."

Singh further stated that Opposition is fully ready for the election, under whatever circumstances the elections will be held. "We will fight strongly and the people wish that the Nitish government should farewell as soon as possible," he added.

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RJD, LJP demands postponement

Earlier, RJD leader and leader of opposition in the Bihar Assembly Tejashwi Yadav had demanded to postpone Bihar polls till the spread of coronavirus is curbed. Tejashwi also demanded that election should be held when parties are allowed to hold rallies and expressed his apprehension at the virtual campaigning, which is not a fairground for political parties that are financially weak and not abreast with the technology.

Soon, BJP ally LJP also joined the RJD in expressing concern over holding the Bihar assembly polls amid the pandemic, with its president Chirag Paswan saying it will put people at risk and may result in a very low voter turnout.

With the sharp increase in the number of positive cases, the Bihar government has enforced lockdown in 11 districts for seven days from July 10. Bihar assembly polls are slated to be held in October/November and the new house has to be convened by November 29, 2020. The death toll from COVID-19 in Bihar reached 111 while 352 fresh cases raised the state's virus count to 14,330, the health department said on Friday. Altogether 10,251 people have recovered from the disease.

(With inputs from ANI)

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