Urban Mirror Correspondent
New Delhi: The Bihar Legislative Assembly Elections 2020 will be held in three phases on October 28, November 3 and 7. The counting of votes and the results will be declared on November 10. The Election Commission said the polls will be held in less phases this year to minimise the movement of security personnel, to ensure their wellbeing as well as due to the Covid-19 pandemic. With this announcement, the Model Code of Conduct comes into force in the state. Bihar’s 243-member Assembly is set to expire on October 29, 2020.
In the first phase of voting, 71 Assembly constituencies in 16 districts will go to polls; in the second phase, 94 constituencies in 17 districts will vote; and in the third and last phase, voting will be held in 78 constituencies in 15 districts.
“Elections entail large scale deployment of security forces. We have tried to minimise their movement over long distances. This is due to their fatigue as well as Covid-19. We have reduced the number of phases to three due to this,” said Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora while addressing the press in New Delhi.
Amid the pandemic, several measures have been taken for campaigning and polling to ensure safety of leaders and voters. Polling has been extended by one hour from 7 am to 6 pm. The last hour will be reserved for those with Covid-19 and who are quarantined.
Several countries have held elections amid the pandemic. However, CEC Arora said the Bihar polls are likely to be the largest elections conducted during the pandemic given there are with 72.9 million electors in the state.
