Bihar Assembly elections 2020: Voting on October 28, November 3 and 7; results on November 10

For Phase 2, the filing of nominations will begin on October 9 and end on October 16, scrutiny will be done by October 17, withdrawal by October 19, and polling on November 3. In this phase, 94 seats across 17 districts will got to polls with 42,000 polling stations.

Explained | What steps has the EC taken to ensure a safe election in Bihar in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic?

For Phase 3, the filing of nominations will begin on October 13 and end on October 20, scrutiny will be done by October 21, withdrawal by October 23, with polls on November 7. This phase will see elections to 78 seats from 15 districts at 33,5000 polling stations.

Arora said that the “world had changed significantly and not for the better” and that “COVID had enforced a new normal”. And while election management committees across the world first chose to defer elections, the lack of abatement of the infection and its unpredictable trajectories meant that “some way had to be found to find balance between the democratic rights of voters and their health”. He said that over months, the Election Commission has made meticulous preparations.

Arora also flagged the issue of the misuse of social media and said that the Commission would keep a close eye on activities online and anyone trying to “foment communal tension” would have to face the full “law of the land”. He also asked the social media platforms to be vigilant and evolve monitoring systems, saying that they “would not be allowed to say they were only platform providers”.

On the bye-elections and MLC elections, the Commission said that they had received letters from the Chief Secretaries and CEOs of certain states, some from South India, in the past three to four days requesting for a deferment. He said that these would be considered by the Commission and a decision on these elections would be announced on Tuesday, September 29.