Preparations for Bihar assembly elections have now intensified. In this episode, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) will visit Bihar on 4 and 5 October along with Dnyanesh Kumar, Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi. During this time, the team of the Commission will review the administrative and security arrangements in the state.
This high -level tour is taking place at a time when the Election Commission is going to release the final voter list on 30 September on the basis of special intensive revision (SIR). Opposition parties have questioned this process, alleging that millions of real voters can be deprived of it. However, the Election Commission has dismissed these allegations outright and said that the aim of SIR is to make the electoral system more transparent.
Commission team will assess the ground situation
The current term of Bihar Legislative Assembly ends on 22 November. In such a situation, new assembly elections are set to be held in the state. According to officials, the Commission team will sit with senior administrative and police officers of the state in Patna and assess the ground situation. This process is usually done before the formal announcement of the election.
Elections can be held in three to four stages
Sources say that after the visit of Bihar, it is possible to announce the election schedule by the Election Commission in a few days. Based on previous experiences, it is expected that this time also elections can be held in Bihar in three to four stages. However, this time there is also a challenge of festivals before the Commission because the electoral atmosphere will be between big festivals like Diwali and Chhath. The commission is already alert to protect voters from any inconvenience.
How many stages were held first?
The history of assembly elections in Bihar has also been witness to phased voting. In the year 2020, elections were held in three phases on October 28, 3 November and 7 November. The results were declared on 10 November. At the same time, elections were held in five phases in 2015, while in 2010, voting was held in six phases. In 2005, elections were held in three phases in February twice and in three phases in October.

