Bihar Assembly poll dates have just been announced and the three-phase electoral exercise is going to be an extraordinary affair since it is going to be an acid for a number of stakeholders. While it will be a political battle as usual, the election has assumed all importance since it is for the first time a state is going to polls under a full Covid shadow. Undoubtedly, just like the contesting political parties, it will also be a test extraordinaire for the Election Commission of India (ECI) as an alert watchdog as the pandemic has changed all.

The upcoming election in the eastern state is really going to be a test case also for Digital India since the ways and means of reaching out to voters will be way different and mass rallies and the door-to-door interaction methodology which so long have been counted as the grammar of any Indian election is going to be replaced by the virtual. This is also a cause of worry for the parties there as even if social distancing norms can be implemented through strictness, how to connect with the electorate through the virtual mode is the paramount question now. The challenge is a three-fold one i.e. low tele-density, low internet penetration and low mass media exposure as according to TRAI data that came during the end of 2019, internet penetration in Bihar is 32 subscribers per 100 compared to the national average of 54. This has invariably resulted in low mass media exposure particularly among women and among all states and UTs, Bihar has the highest share of women with little or no access to this emerging tool of communication. For the ECI, the approaching polls will be completely different from its usual chores and is going to be loaded with some extra responsibilities. Besides keeping vigil on the wrongdoers in terms of adherence to Model Code of Conduct and the associated election norms, it has been compelled to increase the number of polling stations from 65,000 to 1 lakh along with the counting centres for the 243-seat Assembly having an electoral strength of 7.29 crore. But, the most watched will be that of regulating the rallies under social distancing and sanitation norms and conducting polls through postal ballots which will be more in volume compared to any earlier state election.

The polls will no doubt throw new lights on the ways of conducting an election process under Covid circumstances and will perhaps become a benchmark for the near-future elections, given the fact it’s almost a consensus now that the pandemic is going to prolong.  

The ‘examinees’ to watch out this time will be Digital India and the ECI. 

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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