Hold Bihar polls in one phase like you did in Maharashtra: JD(U) to EC

Patna, Oct 4 (PTI) Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JD(U) on Saturday urged the Election Commission to consider holding assembly polls "in a single phase", citing the example of Maharashtra, which has a larger number of constituencies.

JD(U) working president Sanjay Kumar Jha spoke to the media here after meeting the visiting EC team led by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, which held talks with different political parties.

Jha said, "We urged the EC to hold assembly elections in a single phase. It is possible. The state has no law and problem nor is it in throes of Naxal violence. If elections could be held in a single phase in Maharashtra, why not here?" Notably, the Maharashtra assembly, to which polls were held in a single phase last year, has 288 seats, while the Vidhan Sabha in Bihar is 243-strong.

Notably, assembly polls in Bihar have been held in a staggered manner for quite some time. The 2020 polls were held in three phases, which was still lower than the number of legs in 2015 (five) and 2010 (six).

The JD(U) finds itself, on the issue, on the same page as allies like BJP and Union minister Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) and opposition parties like RJD and CPI(ML) Liberation, all of which have stressed that elections be held in "one or two phases".

Jha added, "Another point that we stressed on before the EC is that festivals like Diwali and Chhath are approaching. A large number of people who eke out a living in other parts of the country, visit their home state during this time. So, the poll schedule be drawn in such a manner that migrants could cast their vote before returning to their places of work".

The Rajya Sabha MP added, "We have also requested the EC to deploy, at all polling booths, paramilitary forces in adequate strength so that the poor are able to cast their votes without fear and intimidation".

Replying to a query, he claimed "complaints against Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls did not figure in the discussions parties held with the EC. Though we did congratulate the EC for successfully conducting the exercise in Bihar, which is now to be held across the country".

Interestingly, delegates of the Congress and the CPI(ML) Liberation have claimed, sharing copies of their respective memoranda, that reservations about SIR were flagged before the EC. PTI NAC RG