Team News Riveting
New Delhi, October 6
The Election Commission of India on Monday announced the election schedules for the Bihar assembly polls.
The elections will be held in two phases on November 6 and November 11, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar said. Over 7.4 crore people are eligible to vote in the Assembly elections including 14 lakh first-time voters, he added.
The CEC asserted that the Bihar elections will be conducted in a transparent and peaceful manner. At least 14,000 voters in the state are aged above 100 years.
A total of 90,712 polling stations would be set up in Bihar, he said. The CEC said strict directives have been given to the administration “for zero tolerance to any violence and there is no scope for any threat to voters or candidates”
In the 243 members Bihar assembly, 38 seats are reserved for the Scheduled Castes (SCs), and two seats for the Scheduled Tribes (STs). Of the total voters, 3.92 crore male voters, 3.50 crore female voters, and 1,725 transgender voters, he said, while highlighting that 14.01 lakh of them are first time voters.
The 2020 assembly elections in Bihar were held in three phases from October 28. While the NDA that included the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Janata Dal-United (JD-U), Mukesh Sahani’s Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) and the Hindustani Awam Morcha back then won 125 seats, the Mahagathbandhan comprising the RJD, Congress and the Left parties in 2020 bagged 110 seats.
The overall voter turnout in 2020 Bihar elections was 57.05 per cent – 54.68 per cent among the males and the 59.58 per cent among the females. In the first phase, the voter turnout was 55.68 per cent. Meanwhile, the voter turnout in second and third phases was 55.70 per cent and 59.94 per cent, respectively.
