Bihar Elections 2025 Dates Likely To Be Out Next Week; Final Voter List To Be Published On Tuesday

The Election Commission of India (ECI) is set to publish the final electoral roll of Bihar on Tuesday with a follow-up with the announcement of the poll schedule of the key state next week. The poll authority will be visiting Patna on Oct. 4 and 5 to take stock of the poll preparedness. The schedule for the assembly elections is likely to be announced next week, sources said.

Four hundred seventy observers are being deployed by the ECI for Bihar and some assembly bypolls. A briefing of general, police and expenditure observers is also set to take place in New Delhi on Oct. 3. The last assembly elections in Bihar were held in three phases amid the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The final voter list of Bihar is being published following the conclusion of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls which was held after a gap of 22 years.

The draft electoral rolls were published on Aug. 1 and were open for "claims and objections" by individuals and political parties till Sep. 1.

There were 7.24 crore electors in the draft rolls. 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 ECI 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.

Hard and soft copies will be given free of cost to all recognised political parties and published on the ECI website. Any elector aggrieved by the decision of the ERO may appeal to the District Magistrate within fifteen days of the order. A further appeal may be preferred to the Chief Electoral Officer if the elector remains dissatisfied within 30 days of the order.

The following political parties are eligible free voter list:

• Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)

• Indian National Congress (INC)

• Janata Dal (United) (JDU)

• Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)

• Communist Party of India (CPI)

• Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI-M)

• National People's Party (NPP)

Regional parties that are not recognised, newly formed parties, and independent candidates will have to pay the prescribed fee for the voter list. Some of the major parties in Bihar in this category include:

• Jan Suraj Party (JSP)

• Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas)

• Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)

• All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM)

• Other smaller parties and independent candidates

For a hard copy, the fee is Rs 100 per assembly constituency, while a soft copy in PDF format costs Rs 50 per constituency. Given that there are 243 constituencies in the state, the total cost for acquiring a hard copy of the entire voter list would amount to approximately Rs 24,300. In contrast, opting for a soft copy would significantly reduce the expense to around Rs 12,150.

The first phase of the elections is likely to be held soon after the Chhath festival in late October. The term of the 243-member Bihar Assembly ends on Nov. 22.

(With PTI Inputs)