• Source:JND
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As the tenure of the Assembly in Bihar is nearing its end, the Election Commission is likely to announce the schedule for the upcoming elections next week, news agency PTI reported, citing sources.

The Chief Election Commissioner, along with other Election Commissioners, is set to visit Patna on October 4 and 5 to take stock of preparations, after which the announcement is most likely to be made.

According to the report, the first phase of the Bihar Assembly elections is expected to be conducted after Chhath Puja in late October.

For the assembly polls and some by-polls, the poll body is to deploy 470 observers. On October 3, a briefing of general, police and expenditure observers is also set to take place in Patna.

The tenure of the current assembly is ending on November 22 and the poll body is making efforts to hold the elections before that so that the new government can be formed before it.

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The assembly election in 2020 was held in three phases under the garb of the COVID-19 pandemic. This time, the poll body can go for a two-phase election in the state.

Final electoral roll on Tuesday

In another major development around the Bihar Elections, the poll body is set to release the final voter list on Tuesday (September 30). It will mark the conclusion of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, which was held after a gap of 22 years.

The Election Commission started the SIR on June 24 with the filing of the enumeration forms of voters. The forms were filled till July 25 after which the poll body published the draft roll on August 1.

The Election Commission provided a one-month time period to file objections and claims till September 1. There were 7.24 crore electors in the draft rolls published on August 1. The final number of valid voters in Bihar will be confirmed in the final rolls.\

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The SIR has come under sharp criticism from opposition parties who have claimed that it will disenfranchise crores of genuine citizens of their voting rights.

The Commission has asserted that it will not allow any eligible citizen to be left out of the voter list and at the same time not let any ineligible person be on the list.

(With PTI Inputs)