During their meeting with the Election Commission (EC) in Patna on Saturday, there seemed to be a consensus among Bihar’s political parties for fewer phases of voting in the upcoming state Assembly elections.
While the ruling NDA demanded a single phase of voting, the Opposition called for two phases, with both camps pressing for the polls to be held soon after the Chhath festival that begins on October 25.
In the 2020 Assembly polls, polling was held across three phases in the state.
On the second day of their Bihar visit, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi held a meeting with 12 parties.
The entire EC team is expected to hold a press conference in Patna Sunday before returning to Delhi. They are likely to announce the Bihar poll dates early next week.
In a statement Saturday, the EC said, “The parties demanded that the elections in Bihar be held soon after the Chhath festival to increase voter participation and suggested that the elections be held in the minimum number of phases. The parties thanked the EC for fixing a maximum of 1,200 voters per polling station.”
Among the Opposition Mahagathbandhan parties, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the CPI (ML)-L demanded a two-phase election. The Opposition also demanded that the EC publish a list of the 3.66 lakh people who were deleted from the final electoral rolls with the reasons for their deletion.
RJD spokesperson Chittranjan Gagan, who was part of the party’s delegation at the EC-convened meeting, told The Indian Express, “We have demanded a two-phase election. We have raised our concerns on the EC not being transparent on the claims and objections made during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) as it has not given reasons for rejections. We urged the EC to immediately issue Electoral Photo Identity Cards (EPIC) to new voters. We have also raised concerns over the Nitish Kumar-led government announcing a flurry of sops so close to the election. The transfers of some officials are also done without application of proper logic.”
The RJD also demanded that the EC “rein in” all parties over levelling personal allegations during the forthcoming campaign. “The CEC asked if we would not thank them for the SIR. We said we would only welcome you to Bihar,” Gagan said.
Kumar Parvez, office secretary of the CPI(ML)-L who met the EC team, said, “Just as the EC had given a break-up of 65 lakh voters (who were deleted in the draft rolls during the SIR), we also demanded a break-up of the 3.66 lakh electors dropped from the final electoral roll. We also demanded a break-up of new voters and those who had successfully applied to become new voters after their names were deleted at the draft stage of the SIR.”
Parvez added that the CPI(ML)-L also asked the EC if the female-male ratio in the new voter rolls had further declined and if any rejections were on grounds of “infiltration”. “We got no reply to such queries. They only asked from where we get all this news,” Parvez said.
The four-member Congress team, headed by Bihar party chief Rajesh Kumar, that met the EC said in a statement, “In line with the Supreme Court’s orders on the draft roll, the EC must publish booth-wise, reasoned lists of voters added and deleted. The EC must identify booths with high deletions and especially where women and marginalised communities have been disproportionately removed. The Booth Level Officers (BLOs) must repeat door-to-door verification in these booths. Voters left out during the SIR must be given an opportunity to be included till the last date of filing nominations, supported by special awareness drives.”
In its 12-point demand, the Congress said, “Voting percentage should be updated regularly through electronic devices to avoid abrupt, unexplained jumps in turnout figures.”
The Congress also raised concerns over the recent direct benefit transfers (DBT) of Rs 10,000 each by the Nitish government to one crore women under the Mahila Rojgar Yojana. “DBTs should be suspended during the election period to ensure a level playing field,” the party said.
Among the NDA constituents, Janata Dal (United) national working president Sanjay Kumar Jha said, “We demanded a single-phase poll with a request to deploy paramilitary forces on all booths.”
BJP spokesperson Manoj Sharma said his party has also demanded a single-phase election. Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas)’s Bihar in-charge and Jamui MP Arun Bharti said the party demanded a one or two-phase election.
After its meeting with the parties, the EC held a review meeting with the state police and administration regarding logistics, law and order, and voter awareness and outreach activities, the EC statement said.
“The Commission also gave detailed instructions to the officers based on the suggestions given by political parties. The Commission directed all District Election Officers (DEOs), Superintendents of Police (SPs) and the state administration to act with complete impartiality and ensure prompt resolution of the complaints and grievances of the political parties. All DEOs and SPs were instructed to monitor social media for fake news and to respond swiftly with appropriate legal action, if required,” the statement said.
The EC is scheduled to hold meetings with the enforcement agencies, Central Armed Police Forces and Bihar’s senior officers, including the Chief Secretary and Director General of Police, on Sunday.
During the three-month SIR exercise in Bihar, as many as 68.6 lakh names were struck off, of which 65 lakh were removed when the draft roll was published on August 1, and another 3.66 lakh during the claims and objections stage. Alongside, 21.53 lakh new electors were also added.
Of the 65 lakh names deleted at the draft stage, 22 lakh were marked dead, 36 lakh were shown as permanently migrated or absent, and 7 lakh were already enrolled elsewhere. In the final roll, the sources said that of the 3.66 lakh further deletions, over 2 lakh were due to migration, around 60,000 to death, and 80,000 to duplication (enrolled in two places).