Mobiles, which increasingly appear as an extension of a person, have often been a problem at polling stations. Not anymore, says the Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, who found a way to accommodate it as he announced a set of new initiatives for the Bihar polls.
One among the new initiatives is the provision to help people with their mobile phones while they vote.
"Polling station ke kamre ke theek bahar matdata apna mobile phone jama kara sakta hai (Voter can deposit his/her mobile phone just outside the polling station room)," said the Chief Election Commissioner in Hindi while announcing the poll dates.
Bihar will vote for the 243 assembly seats in two phases: November 6 (121 seats) and 11 (122 seats). The votes will be counted on November 14.
The mobile phone move aims to address a long-pending demand by voters about what to do with their mobile phones while they vote.
Though no phones are still allowed inside polling stations, an arrangement has been arrived at, allowing people to deposit their mobiles while they vote.
Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, accompanied by Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, described the Bihar elections as "mother of all elections".
"We want to assure Bihar voters that not only will the elections be exemplary and smooth, but also the most peaceful due to a special focus on maintaining law and order," he said.
The 2025 Assembly elections are the first to be held in the eastern state after a Special Intensive Revision (SIR), which the poll body chief has described as "purification" of electoral rolls. The exercise delivered a final voters' list with 7.43 crore electors, including 14 lakh first-time voters.
The poll body chief also announced that each of the 243 constituencies will have its individual observer, unlike the earlier arrangement of one observer being responsible for more than one seat.
The 2025 elections are expected to be a high-stakes contest between the ruling alliance of the Bharatiya Janata Party and Janata Dal(United), and the opposition coalition known as the Mahagathbandhan, led by the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress.
Adding a new dimension to the race is Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj Party, which is positioning itself as an alternative force in Bihar politics.
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