Election Commission sources have told The Daily Guardian that in the Bihar Assembly elections, one-and-a-half times more number of polling stations will be created, along with masks, sanitizers, and soaps; the limit of election expenses would also be increased. The recommendation of the Election Commission has reached the Union Ministry of Law and Justice. Rule 90 of Election Management Rules 1961 will have to be amended to implement this recommendation.
Now it is time for the government to approve this amendment, then for every candidate for the Vidhan Sabha elections, the expenses of election campaigning and management will be from Rs 28 lakh to Rs 30 lakh 80 thousand. That means an increase of 10%.
According to Election Commission sources, in the past, along with many other political parties of Bihar, BJP also talked about increasing the expenditure by applying in the commission.
Now the workers need a sanitizer, mask, liquid soap, PPE kit, thermal screening device, etc. There can be no cut in this. Apart from this, the first litmus test of the guideline released last month is also to be held from Bihar elections. Now according to the guide line, if the candidate will fill nomination papers, only two people can go with him instead of five.
The road show will have only five vehicles with the candidate. There will be only three workers in the houseto-house campaign. They are also fully equipped with Corona safety kit. There will be smaller gatherings instead of larger election rallies. With social distancing.
social distancing. According to the Commission’s manual and SoP guide line, the total spending limit is also fixed. For example, out of the total spending limit, 34% can be spent on vehicles for election management and campaigning, 23% on publicity tools, 13% on publicity rallies, 7% on publicity in electronic and print media. Apart from this, 4% can be spent on banner posters, hoardings and leaflets and 3% for coming to the field.
On 11 September, sources told The Daily Guardian that the Bihar Legislative Assembly election date can be announced anytime after 10 September. Along with the Bihar Assembly, there will also be a by-election for one seat of Lok Sabha in Bihar and 64 seats of recently vacated Assembly of several states.
According to highly-placed sources of the Election Commission, the prospects are more likely around 13 September. The term of Bihar Assembly is till 29 November. According to sources in the Commission, the voting for the election is possible in three phases. The election process should be completed after Dussehra and in the period of 20 days before Diwali. It is also possible that the areas most prone to flooding should be voted in the last phase
According to the sources of the Commission, before Dhanteras, there will be an effort to complete the election process for all phases of voting and counting.