Six-phase polls in Bihar from Oct 21

New Delhi : A six-phase Assembly election for Bihar was announced on Monday, brining the state under the model code of conduct with immediate effect.

Chief Election Commission (CEC) SY Qureshi, announcing the schedule at a press conference here, informed the polling dates would be October 21, October 24, October 28, November 1, November 9 and November 20.

The term of the present Assembly is due to expire on November 27 and the constitution of the new Assembly has to be completed before that.

While announcing that the model code of conduct will come into immediate effect, Qureshi said, ?There shall be no appeal to caste or communal feelings for securing votes. Mosques, Churches, Temples or other places of worship shall not be used as forum for election propaganda.?

The entire polling will be done on Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), the CEC said.

The state has total of 243 Legislative Assembly Constituencies, of which 38 are reserved for Scheduled Castes and two for Scheduled Tribes.

As per the final rolls, there are 5,50,88,402 electors in the state, the CEC informed, adding that photo electoral rolls will be used in the state.

?Bihar has 89% electors with photographs in the rolls. Efforts are continuing to increase the photo coverage in electoral rolls. All residual electors without photograph in the rolls are advised to contact their nearest Designated Photography Location (DPL) or the Electoral Registration Officer of their AC for inclusion of Photographs in the roll against their names,? Qureshi said.

On the security front, he said, based on the assessment of the ground situation, Central Police Forces (CPF) and State Armed Police (SAP) drawn from other States will be deployed during the elections.

The state will have 56,943 polling stations.