The Election Commission of India will announce the dates for the Bihar Assembly elections on Friday, ANI reported. This is the first state...
The Election Commission of India will announce the dates for the Bihar Assembly elections on Friday, ANI reported. This is the first state election to be held in the country during the coronavirus pandemic.
Sheyphali Sharan, spokesperson of Election Commission of India, told ANI that the poll body will hold a press conference at 12.30 pm.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who leads a coalition with the Bharatiya Janata Party, will fight for a fourth term. The Rashtriya Janata Dal, led by jailed politician Lalu Prasad Yadav, and the Congress are the other main contenders.
Ahead of the polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 13, had praised Kumar for the implementation of development schemes in the state. Modi said Kumar’s decisions ensured that the benefits reached everyone and played a huge role in creating a “new India and new Bihar”.
Several political leaders have opposed holding elections in the middle of a pandemic. In July, Opposition parties in Bihar had asked the Election Commission to ensure that the elections do not become a “coronavirus super-spreader” event.
Parties such as the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) have also opposed “virtual campaigning”. Nine parties, in a memorandum to the Election Commission, have questioned the Bharatiya Janata Party’s digital campaign, claiming...
