New Delhi: Wooing Bihar voters, Central government on Wednesday announced an additional power package of Rs 1850 crore to the state. The decision comes hours before the announcement of dates for the Assembly elections in Bihar.
The government also approved 6% hike in the Dearness Allowance for Central government employees and pensioners.
Janata Dal United (JDU) leader KC Tyagi called the announcement as poll sop and this is a political bribe given by Narendra Modi government. We question the timing of this offer, he said.
The Election Commission on Wednesday, announced the dates for the high-stakes Assembly elections in Bihar. Addressing a press conference in the national capital, Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi announced the dates for the polls for the 243-member Assembly.
“Central paramilitary forces to guard all the polling booths. Nine separate agencies to check use of liquor, arms and money power. Gathering information about money and liquor stored in advance. Appropriate action would be taken. Committees under district magistrates to check deposition of arms. Term of current Assembly expires on November 29. Bihar has a total electorate of 6.68 crore. Satisfied with the arrangements for free and fair polls. Adequate arrangements for central paramilitary forces. Major focus on confidence building measures”, Nasim Zaidi said.
Bihar will have five-phase Assembly elections between October 12 and November 5 and counting of votes will take place on November 8.
Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi today said polls to the 243-seat Assembly will be held on October 12, 16, 28, November 1 and 5.
The term of the current Assembly expires on November 29. Noting that a number of important festivals like Dussehra, Eid, Muharram, Diwali and Chhath will fall in the election period, he said the Commission will ensure communal harmony and peace.
Flanked by Election Commissioners Achal Kumar Jyoti and Om Prakash Rawat, Zaidi told a press conference that more than adequate security arrangements have been made by the election body to ensure peaceful, free and fair polls in state where over 47 constituencies are hit by Naxal violence.
The Bihar Assembly elections are being seen as a battle primarily between Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. While Nitish’s Janata Dal-United (JDU) is contesting is contesting the election in alliance with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has sided with smaller parties like the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RSLP) and the Hindustan Awam Morcha (HAM).
In the run to the polls, several top leaders, including Nitish Kumar, Narendra Modi, RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, HAM’s Jitan Ram Manjhi, have indulged in bitter war of words. While PM Modi questioned the “DNA” of the Bihar Chief Minister, the JDU leader hit back calling it an attack on the pride of Bihar.
The JDU has also kickstarted a ‘Jumla Babu’ campaign to take on Prime Minister Modi on the promises he made before Lok Sabha elections 2014, but failed to fulfil.
While the JDU-RJD-Congress combine has already finalised the seat sharing for the polls, the NDA alliance is yet to make a formal announcement on the same. The JDU and the RJD will be contesting on 100 seats each whereas the Congress will try its luck on 40 seats.
Earlier, the Prime Minister recently announced an Rs 1.65 lakh crore package for infrastructural development in the state. Trashing the announcement, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said the Central aid was “packaged myth” of old schemes to influence the electorate.
Asking the “actual size” of the package, Kumar had highlighted that a large chunk of the package up to the tune of Rs 1.08 lakh crore was coming out of the funds already promised to the state for on-going and pre-approved development endeavours and schemes.
