Bihar Assembly Election 2020 Largest Voting Exercise Amid Covid Pandemic (Representation)
New Delhi:
The first phase of the Bihar Assembly election will take place today, with 2.14 crore voters going to voting booths in 71 constituencies to decide the fate of 1,066 candidates. This is the first major election to be held anywhere in the world amid the Covid pandemic – at least until the United States holds its presidential election on November 3. Several measures have been put in place by the electoral commission to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. , including staggered voting hours and a postal voting system. This election will see Nitish Kumar and his BJP-backed JDU fight for a fifth consecutive term. Challenge him will be a mahagathbandan led by Tejashwi Yadav and the RJD Congress. Chirag Paswan’s LJP, a BJP ally at the center, is in the mix as an independent party – which has led to speculation of a tacit deal with the BJP.
Here are 10 important points about the first phase of the 2020 Bihar Assembly election:
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The Bihar Assembly election will take place in three phases – October 28, November 3 and November 7. The results will be announced on November 10. In the first phase, the vote will take place for 71 seats, many of which are in the state’s Naxal. belt. The second phase will cover 94 seats and the final phase 78 seats. Overall, more than 7.3 million people will vote to fill 243 seats in the Assembly.
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Guidelines issued by the Election Commission for safe conduct of polling stations during the coronavirus pandemic include staggered voting hours and a postal voting facility for people over the age of 80 or suspected of being be carriers of the virus. Voting hours have also been extended and separate booths will be set up for those infected or suspected of being infected.
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In addition, all EVDs will be frequently disinfected and all staff in the voting booths will wear face masks and other protective equipment at all times. All voters will also have to wear face masks and be examined by thermal scanners. Approximately seven lakh units of hand sanitizers, 46 lakh masks, six lakh PPE kits, 6.7 lakh face shields and 23 pairs of lakh gloves were made available.
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The polling station also limited the maximum number of voters allowed at a polling station – to 1,000 to 1,500. This led to an increase in the number of polling stations – from 65,367 in polls from 2015 to more 1.6 lakh in this election.
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Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s JDU will contest 35 seats in the first phase. The BJP fielded candidates in 29, with seven seats going to smaller allies. The RJD will fight 42 seats and Congress 20. Mr. Paswan’s LJP will fight only 41 seats, but these include the 35 contested by the JDU. In the 2015 elections, the RJD won 27 of the 71 seats that were polled in the first phase. JDU won 18, BJP 13, and Congress only nine.
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Out of a total of 1,066 candidates vying for the first phase, 952 are men. The maximum number of candidates for a single seat is in the city of Gaya, where 27 people are on the ballot. The minimum is in Katoria, in the district of Banka, where only five people run.
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Among the main contenders for the first phase is Shreyasi Singh, the Commonwealth Games gold medalist who joined the BJP earlier this month. She challenges the Jamui seat dominated by Naxal, where she is opposed to RJD Vijay Prakash, the incumbent.
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Former Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, who left the JDU in 2015 after being forced to give way to Nitish Kumar, will fight from the reserved seat Imamganj in Gaya district. Mr. Manjhi and his Hindustan Awam Morcha (HAM) left the opposition alliance in August and, days later, joined the NDA. He will seek to defend Imamganj against the four-time winner Uday Narayan Chaudhary, who left the JDU to join the RJD and the opposition alliance.
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An interesting three-way fight for the Siege of Sasaram is on the cards, with the incumbent – Ashok Kumar of the RJD fighting over a JDU ticket. He faces off against veteran leader Rameshwar Chaurasiya, who left the BJP to join Chirag Paswan’s LJP. The RJD has lined up Rajesh Kumar Gupta.
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Other key faces in action during the first phase are six members of the state cabinet – Prem Kumar (Gaya City), Vijay Kumar Sinha (Lakhisarai), Ram Narayan Mandal (Banka), Krishnanandan Prasad Verma (Jehanabad) , Jaikumar Singh (Dinara) and Santosh Kumar Nirala (Rajpur). Of these, Mr. Verma, Mr. Singh and Mr. Nirala are JDU while the others are BJP.
With the contribution of PTI
