He assured the voters of Bihar that the numerous police officials, returning officers, zilla parishad officials are ready to conduct a free and fair elections
The Election Commission on Saturday began a training programme for booth-level officers (BLOs) in West Bengal for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The training programme, being held in various districts, would be completed by November 3, with the SIR process scheduled to begin the following day, officials said. In south Kolkata's Nazrul Mancha, training was underway for BLOs of Bhabanipur, Rashbehari, Ballygunge, Tollygunge, Kasba, Jadavpur, Metiabruz, Behala Purba and Behala Paschim assembly constituencies, they said. The sessions are being held in batches, they added. The EC has issued a 16-point guideline for BLOs as part of the SIR exercise, and introduced a new mobile app to streamline field operations, officials said. During the training, BLOs are being provided with special kits and detailed instructions on the SIR process, they added. From November 4 to December 4, BLOs will visit households to carry out voter verification and form-filling work. A
EC to announce schedule for Assam separately
Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar said SIR exercise is being carried out in 12 states of India after several political parties raised concerns about the quality of electoral rolls
The Election Commission will hold a press conference to announce pan-India Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voters' list on Monday evening, officials said. While complete details were still awaited, the poll authority is likely to announce the first phase of SIR in which 10 to 15 states will be covered, including those going to Assembly polls in 2026. Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Kerala, Assam and Puducherry are scheduled to go to polls next year.
Assam, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Kerala, and West Bengal will go to polls in 2026 and will be among the first states where the Election Commission begins voter list revision
The Election Commission on Friday asked all political parties to label AI-generated content, disclose creators, and remove misleading material within three hours ahead of Bihar Assembly polls
EC stated that free broadcasting and telecasting facilities, with a base time of 45 minutes, have been allotted on both Doordarshan and AIR for each party
Poll body said that expenditure Observers have already been deployed to monitor the election expenses incurred by the Candidates
The Election Commission has directed all national and state parties, as well as contesting candidates, to obtain MCMC approval before publishing or airing any political advertisements
ECI stated that every registered national and state political party, as well as all contesting candidates, are required to submit applications to the MCMC for pre-certification
The Maharashtra State Election Commission has requested the Election Commission to defer its plan, if any, to roll out Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state until January 2026, citing the upcoming local body polls. The State Election Commission (SEC), in its letter dated September 9, stated that officials will be busy conducting the elections to local bodies. "The honourable Supreme Court of India has vide its order dated 6th May 2025 directed the State Election Commission to make an endeavour to conclude the elections to local bodies in Maharashtra within a period of four months while granting liberty to the State Election Commission to seek extension of time in appropriate cases," it said. Elections to all 29 municipal corporations, all 247 municipal councils, 42 nagar panchayats out of 147 town councils, 32 out of 34 zilla parishads, and 336 out of 351 panchayat samitis are due in Maharashtra, a senior official said on Monday. The SEC also pointed out
Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar said Aanganwadi workers will assist in verifying the identity of 'burqa-clad' or voters in 'ghunghat' at all Bihar polling booths
The Election Commission has warned political parties against misusing AI to create deepfakes or distort information in the Bihar assembly polls. In a statement on Thursday, the poll authority also reminded parties of its instructions to prominently label Al-generated or synthetic content being shared for campaigning through their social media platforms or in the form of advertisements. Parties, star campaigners and candidates should prominently declare that the content is "Al-Generated", "Digitally Enhanced", or a "Synthetic Content". It cautioned that a strict watch on social media posts is being kept to ensure that the election atmosphere is not vitiated. "The Commission advised the parties against misuse of AI based tools to create deep fakes that distort information or propagate misinformation over social media platforms emphasizing the need to uphold the integrity of the electoral process," it said. Amid the last Lok Sabha elections, EC had come out with a set of directives
The Congress on Tuesday said much was made of the need of the SIR exercise to remove non-citizens from the electoral roll but the Election Commission has not had the integrity or the courage to enlighten the country on how many such non-citizens in Bihar were removed from the voter list. The opposition party also said if the poll body had informed as to how many such non-citizens in Bihar were removed from the electoral roll, it would have been even more exposed than it already is. Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh noted that the Supreme Court hearing on the Bihar Special Intensive Revision (SIR) resumes Tuesday. He also shared on X an analysis of the SIR exercise published in a newspaper. "This fine analysis shows that the entire SIR exercise bulldozed through by the Election Commission has failed on all three counts of completeness, equity, and accuracy," Ramesh said. "Much was made of the need of the SIR exercise to remove non-citizens from the .
Out of 243 seats, 121 constituencies will go to the polls in the first phase, while the remaining 122 constituencies will vote in the second phase
The Election Commission will announce Bihar Assembly poll dates today at 4 pm; parties want post-Chhath polls for higher voter turnout as Assembly term ends on November 22
All DEOs and SPs were instructed to monitor social media for fake news and to respond swiftlywith appropriate legal action, if required
Bihar BJP president Dilip Jaiswal on Saturday urged the Election Commission to conduct the upcoming assembly polls in one or two phases and ensure that faces of women turning up at booths in burqas were tallied with voter cards. Jaiswal, who led a BJP delegation that met the visiting EC team headed by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, also requested adequate deployment of paramilitary forces in areas that were vulnerable to booth capture and intimidation of voters. "We have urged the EC to conduct the elections in one or two phases. The election process need not be staggered. Also, tallying of faces of voters, especially burqa-clad women, must be ensured with respective EPIC cards so that only genuine voters get to exercise their franchise," he told reporters after the meeting. "We have also requested that paramilitary forces be deployed in villages with a heavy population of weaker sections like extremely backward classes, a few days in advance and a flag march-like exerci
Political parties in poll-bound Bihar are scheduled to hold talks with a team of the Election Commission here on Saturday, an official said. The EC team, headed by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, is likely to kick off its two-day visit to the state on Saturday, and receive feedback from representatives of recognised national and state parties. Dates for the assembly polls are likely to be announced by the EC soon. The BJP, Congress, JD(U), RJD and CPI(ML) Liberation are prominent among the parties, which will be permitted to send "up to three representatives each" for the meeting. The poll panel had on September 30 published its final electoral roll in Bihar, containing details of 7.42 crore voters, a drop of more than 47 lakh since June, when the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) was launched. While the BJP-led NDA has been of the view that the exercise was needed to remove "impurities" from the voters' list, in which illegal foreign immigrants may have been included in