Bihar Assembly Election Dates To Be Out At 4 PM Today

The Election Commission will hold a press conference at 4 PM today to announce the Bihar Assembly election dates.

Election Commission will announce the dates for Bihar polls today.

Source : PTI

The Election Commission of India will announce the schedule for the upcoming Bihar Assembly Elections today. The poll body will hold a press conference at 4 PM today to announce the dates.

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar on Sunday announced that the special intensive revision (SIR) of Bihar’s electoral roll has “purified” the voters’ list for the first time in 22 years, marking a major milestone in the state’s electoral preparation ahead of the upcoming assembly polls.

Addressing a packed press conference in Patna, Kumar, accompanied by Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, wrapped up a two-day review tour of the state. The team met with representatives of political parties and senior officials to assess poll preparedness and gather ground-level feedback.

“With the successful completion of SIR, the voters’ list in Bihar has been purified. It is after a gap of 22 years that such a cleansing has taken place. The exercise will now be conducted across the country,” the CEC said, highlighting that the initiative is set to become a model for other states.

Kumar revealed a series of new measures being introduced for the 243-member Bihar Assembly, which includes 38 constituencies reserved for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and two for Scheduled Tribes (STs). These initiatives, he said, will eventually be implemented nationwide.

Key reforms include:

• EPIC (Electors Photo Identity Card) delivery within 15 days of registration using a new standard operating procedure.
  
  
• A mobile deposit facility at polling booths to improve convenience for voters.
  
  
• A limit of 1,200 voters per polling station to prevent overcrowding.
  
  
• 100% webcasting at all polling booths for enhanced transparency.
  
  
• Mandatory verification of VVPAT slips in the event of complaints about mismatches with EVM data.

“In order to prevent overcrowding of polling stations, it has been decided that no booth shall have more than 1,200 voters. To make the voting exercise easier for the electors, mobile deposit facility is being introduced at booths,” Kumar explained.

Speaking partly in Maithili and Bhojpuri, Kumar struck a chord with the local audience and acknowledged suggestions from political parties that elections be held immediately after Chhath, Bihar’s most prominent festival later this month.

He confirmed that the entire election process will be completed before November 22, the date on which the tenure of the current Assembly ends. He also urged parties to ensure the deployment of polling and counting agents at every booth, “so that all are satisfied that elections have been held in a transparent manner.”

The CEC lauded the effort of Bihar’s 243 Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) and 90,207 Booth Level Officers (BLOs) who completed the voter revision exercise on schedule. Many of them were present at the event, where Kumar invited them to join the visiting Election Commission team for a photo session with the press.