The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Sunday announced that Bihar will go to polls in two phases on November 6 and 11, with vote Counting on November 14 setting the stage for a high-stakes battle between the ruling NDA government led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and the opposition alliance comprising the RJD, Congress, and other parties.
With this announcement, the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) has come into effect across the state.
Key Election Dates
- Phase 1: November 6 — polling in 121 constituencies
- Phase 2: November 11 — polling in 122 constituencies
- Counting on November 14
In the 243-member Bihar Assembly, the ruling NDA currently holds 138 seats, while the opposition alliance controls 103.
A New Political Force Emerges
This election introduces a third front — Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj Party — which is expected to make the contest more dynamic.
Adding to the pre-election buzz, the Election Commission has recently concluded a Special Intensive Review (SIR) of voter lists, which Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar described as a “shuddhikaran” (purification) process.
Voter Statistics
According to the CEC, 7.42 crore voters will be eligible to vote across 90,712 polling stations, all of which will be webcast-enabled to ensure transparent polling.
The state has 3.92 crore male and 3.5 crore female voters. Nearly 14,000 voters are aged 100 years or above, and around 14 lakh will be first-time voters.https://himalayanexpress.in/
Voter List Purification and Deletions
Kumar revealed that approximately 69 lakh names have been deleted during the SIR of electoral rolls. However, he declined to specify how many deletions were due to non-citizenship issues.
“A breakup cannot be given in a decentralised set-up. The Electoral Registration Officer prepares the voter lists, which can be appealed before the District Magistrate or Chief Electoral Officer,” Kumar explained.
He added that most deletions were due to deaths, migration, or unproven citizenship, and that this data had already been shared with political parties.
Election Reforms and Transparency Measures
In response to political demands, the CEC announced that counting of postal ballots will now be completed before the last two rounds of vote counting.
Calling the upcoming Bihar elections the “mother of all elections”, Kumar said the Commission will implement 17 new initiatives, which may later be replicated nationwide.
“Thanks to the SIR, the upcoming Bihar elections could be the most transparent in India’s electoral history. Bihar will show the way to the rest of the country on voter list purification,” Kumar stated confidently.
Clarification on Voter Identification
When asked about the identification of women voters wearing burqa or ghunghat (veil), Kumar affirmed that the Election Commission’s verification guidelines would be strictly followed inside polling booths to ensure transparency and respect for privacy.https://himalayanexpress.in/
