BJP and RJD Both Request Single or Two-Phase Bihar Assembly Elections with Different Voter Verification Concerns

The EC is on a two-day tour of the state (Representational)

Patna:

The BJP on Saturday requested the Election Commission to conduct the upcoming Bihar assembly elections in one or two phases, and to ensure proper verification of women wearing burqas against their voter ID photographs at polling stations.

Both the BJP and its main rival, the RJD, agreed on having non-staggered elections, but the BJP faced accusations of "political conspiracy" for raising concerns about female voters wearing veils.

Following a meeting with the visiting EC team headed by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, state BJP president Dilip Jaiswal stated, "We have urged the Election Commission to conduct the elections in one or two phases. The election process need not be staggered. Also, tallying of faces of voters, especially burqa-clad women, must be ensured with respective EPIC cards so that only genuine voters get to exercise their franchise."

The Election Commission, currently on a two-day visit to the state, held discussions with representatives from recognized political parties before announcing election dates.

The RJD delegation was led by Abhay Kushwaha, the party's leader in the Lok Sabha, accompanied by spokespersons Chitaranjan Gagan and Mukund Singh.

When asked about Jaiswal's comments regarding burqas, Kushwaha responded sharply, "This is a political conspiracy. Only recently has the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls been carried out. New EPIC cards are to be issued to all voters with fresh photographs. Identification of voters is no big deal. But the BJP wants to push its own agenda."

The RJD leader revealed that, similar to the BJP, "we urged the EC to consider holding the polls in not more than two phases, since not much time is left (for expiry of the term of the current assembly)."

The RJD also suggested that elections be held after Chhath, Bihar's most popular festival, which occurs six days after Diwali, falling at the end of October this year.

Jaiswal had also mentioned that the BJP delegation requested the EC to ensure "no further delay in polling dates than the mandatory 28-day gap between the date of announcement of elections and the day on which voting begins. So, if elections are announced in a few days from now, polling should begin November 3-4 onwards."

Smaller parties including Union Minister Chirag Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) and INDIA bloc partner CPI(ML) Liberation also expressed support for assembly polls being conducted in "not more than two phases."

Both the BJP and the RJD acknowledged that numerous villages in Bihar have significant populations of weaker sections who face intimidation during elections.

Jaiswal suggested that "paramilitary forces be deployed in villages with a heavy population of weaker sections like extremely backward classes, a few days in advance, and a flag march-like exercise be conducted to instil confidence among the voters."

He added that in riverine areas with histories of booth capturing, cavalry deployment should also be ensured.

Meanwhile, Kushwaha requested the EC for "identification, at the earliest, of all sensitive booths and the list be shared with us so that we could circulate the same among our cadres in order to prevent intimidation of voters from the weaker sections."

He noted that the EC also provided suggestions for political parties.

"It said that upon completion of voting, polling agents must obtain Form 17C from the presiding officer. Many times, the agents leave their assigned booths without doing so, leaving the scope for unnecessary disputes later," he added.

However, the RJD MP emphasized that even if polling agents leave before voting ends, Form 17C remains available with presiding officers in computerized form.

"It must be ensured that printouts of these are provided to all candidates," he said.

The RJD, which has expressed concerns that the SIR might have been implemented to "help" the BJP-led NDA, also urged the EC to reveal details of the 3.66 lakh individuals whose names were removed from the final electoral roll published earlier this week.

The RJD delegation additionally requested the poll panel to prevent the Nitish Kumar government from making populist announcements "without any budgetary allocation" and to "put an effective check on personal attacks and abuses hurled at rivals by political figures during the campaign."