New Delhi: The Election Commission (EC) will publish the final electoral roll of Bihar on Tuesday, paving the way for the announcement of the Assembly election schedule as early as next week. Sources indicated that the first phase of polling is likely to be held soon after the Chhath festival in late October.
Senior EC officials are scheduled to visit Patna on October 4 and 5 to review preparations. Ahead of that, a briefing for general, police, and expenditure observers will be held on October 3. In total, 470 observers are being deployed across Bihar and in certain Assembly bypoll constituencies. The current term of the 243-member Bihar Assembly ends on November 22. The last Assembly elections in the state, held in 2020, were conducted in three phases under strict COVID-19 protocols. The upcoming voter list follows the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, which was carried out this year after a 22-year gap. Draft rolls were released on August 1 and remained open for claims and objections until September 1. At that stage, Bihar had 7.24 crore registered electors.
The SIR has drawn criticism from opposition parties, who allege that the exercise will strip crores of genuine voters of their rights. Responding to these concerns, the Commission has maintained that “no eligible citizen will be left out of the voter list, and no ineligible individual will be included.”