Bihar Assembly Elections to be Held in Two Phases on November 6 and 11
The Election Commission of India has announced the schedule for the Bihar Assembly elections, with polling for the 243 seats to be held in two phases on November 6 and 11. The counting of votes is scheduled for November 14. This will be the first election in the state following a controversial Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. With 7.43 crore eligible voters, including 14.01 lakh first-timers, the polls are a major political event for the nation.
Unpacked:
The SIR was controversial because opposition parties accused the Election Commission of deleting large numbers of voters unfairly, alleging partisan motives. They claimed this revision could disenfranchise specific groups and threatened protests or a boycott, while the Commission maintained it was to ensure accuracy.
The main contest is between the NDA (including BJP, JD(U), LJP(R), HAM(S)), led by Nitish Kumar, and the INDIA bloc led by RJD (Tejashwi Yadav) with Congress. AIMIM, led by Asaduddin Owaisi, is also contesting independently after not joining the opposition alliance.
Key issues include unemployment, migration of youth for jobs, caste politics, corruption, governance, and the fairness of the voter roll revision. Both ruling and opposition parties are promising job creation and social justice measures, while also attacking each other's records.
With over 74 million eligible voters, Bihar is one of India’s most populous states. Its political trends often influence national politics, coalition formations, and policy debates, especially since it involves major national parties and issues of caste, welfare, and governance.