The Election Commission is expected to announce the schedule for the Bihar Assembly elections in October, following the publication of the updated voter list under the Special Summary Revision (SIR) process,
sources told CNN-News18.
They said the announcement may come in the first or early second week of October, soon after Durga Puja and Dussehra.
Polling is likely to be conducted in two or three phases across the state in November, possibly after Chhath Puja.
Vote counting is tentatively scheduled between November 15 and 20, and the entire election process will be completed before the deadline of November 22, according to sources.
While the NDA, comprising the BJP, JD(U), and LJP, aims to continue its tenure in Bihar, the INDIA bloc, comprising the RJD, Congress, and left parties, seeks to oust Nitish Kumar.
In the current Bihar Assembly of 243 members, the NDA consists of 131, with the BJP having 80 MLAs, JD(U)-45, HAM(S)-4, with the support of 2 Independent Candidates.
The Opposition’s INDIA Bloc has a strength of 111 members with RJD leading with 77 MLAs, Congress-19, CPI(ML)-11, CPI(M)-2 and CPI-2.
COMPLAINTS BEING SUBMITTED AMID BIHAR SIR
On September 1, the Congress party said that it submitted close to 89 lakh complaints to the Election Commission regarding the voter lists in Bihar.
Later, the state’s Chief Election Officer (CEO) responded by saying that the party did not follow the proper process of correctly filling up the prescribed form, as mandated to be submitted regarding any objections to the voter list.
Earlier on Sunday, while addressing a press conference in Bihar’s Patna, party leader Pawan Khera claimed that the poll body in Bihar has previously refused to accept the filed complaints, and is claiming through sources that no political party has filed an objection.
The Election Commission received 118 claims and objections in total from the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) 2025 of the electoral rolls in Bihar.
Of the 118 claims and objections, the CPI (ML) Liberation filed 103 for exclusion of names, while 15 were filed for inclusion.
The process of filing claims and objections will close on September 1.
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