Patna, Oct 5 — Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on Sunday reviewed preparations for the Bihar Legislative Assembly Elections 2025, holding a series of meetings with the state’s Chief Electoral Officer, police officials, and representatives of Central Armed Police Forces.
According to officials, the Election Commission of India (ECI) focused on strengthening coordination between enforcement agencies to curb the misuse of money and muscle power, two long-standing challenges in Bihar’s electoral process.
On the second day of the ECI team’s visit, the Commission met senior officials from the Income Tax Department, police, and other enforcement bodies to assess action plans ensuring transparency, integrity, and a level playing field for all political parties.
CEC Gyanesh Kumar, along with Election Commissioners Dr. Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Dr. Vivek Joshi, was briefed by the Chief Electoral Officer, the State Police Nodal Officer, and representatives of Central security forces on operational readiness. A high-level review also took place with the Chief Secretary, Director General of Police, and senior bureaucrats to evaluate inter-agency coordination and security arrangements.
On Saturday, the Commission held wide-ranging consultations with representatives of major national and regional parties, including the BJP, Congress, JD(U), RJD, LJP (Ram Vilas), RLJP, CPI, CPI(M), CPI(ML-Liberation), BSP, AAP, and NPP.
Calling political parties “significant stakeholders in a strong democracy,” the ECI urged them to actively participate in the electoral process by appointing polling and counting agents and promoting voter awareness.
Party representatives welcomed the ECI’s reforms—such as capping electors per polling station at 1,200, timely postal ballot counting, and mandatory handover of Form 17C—and requested that elections be held soon after Chhath festival and in fewer phases to encourage higher voter turnout.
